I try to steer clear of politics here, but occasionally someone comes along who makes that difficult. Stephen Miller is one of those people.

I generally keep my political opinions to myself. I don’t see much point in joining the endless arguments that dominate social media. But I’ve watched Miller for years, and there’s something about the man that I find deeply objectionable.

It’s not his political affiliation. It’s his apparent lack of compassion, his arrogance, and his willingness to use the enormous power of government against people who have little ability to defend themselves.

Miller was a leading advocate of the immigration policies that resulted in thousands of children being separated from their parents in 2018. I’ve never understood how anyone could regard that as acceptable. Enforcing immigration laws is one thing. Deliberately separating families is quite another.

His rhetoric bothers me almost as much as his policies. He talks about immigrants as though they’re an invading army, rarely bothering to distinguish dangerous criminals from ordinary people trying to make a living.

And then there’s his attitude toward constitutional protections. In 2025, he publicly discussed suspending habeas corpus in connection with immigration enforcement. That’s a fundamental safeguard against unlawful detention, not some inconvenient regulation that can be set aside whenever the government finds it troublesome.

I spent decades in nuclear power operations and training, where procedures, regulations, and limitations on authority existed for good reasons. Nobody was entitled to disregard them simply because they interfered with getting something done. I have much the same attitude toward the Constitution.

Miller is obviously intelligent and politically effective. That doesn’t make him wise, and it certainly doesn’t make him someone I want exercising more authority.

Now he’s been appointed White House chief of staff.

I don’t know Stephen Miller personally, and I don’t pretend to know what goes on in his head. I can only judge him by his public statements and the policies he’s promoted.

I’ve seen enough.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. That’s fine. I don’t usually share my opinions anyway.

But in this case, I thought I’d make an exception.

See also Stephen Miller: The Ideologue Behind Donald Trump’s Immigration Policies and His Rise to White House Chief of Staff