Stephen Miller's uncle calls him an 'immigration hypocrite' in a scathing op-ed
- White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was called out in an op-ed by his uncle, who called him an "immigration hypocrite."
- David S. Glosser traces his and Miller's family origins from Eastern Europe to a series of successful family businesses in the US - a journey he says Miller's policies would make impossible today.
- Glosser slams both his nephew and President Donald Trump for ignoring their shared immigrant roots and saying their harsh immigration policies may have made them "numb to the resultant human tragedy."
White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was called out for his harsh immigration policies that contradict his family's immigrant roots in an op-ed for Politico by his uncle, who called him an "immigration hypocrite."
David S. Glosser, Miller's uncle, outlines their family's origins by following the journey of Miller's great grandfather, Wolf-Leib Glosser, who arrived at Ellis Island on January 7, 1903 from a small village in what is now Belarus, a journey Glosser says his nephew's work would make impossible today.
Miller, a 32-year-old policy specialist, has a history of formulating strict immigration policy. He made headlines earlier this year when he pushed the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" on the momentum of March's rise in illegal immigration numbers.
Miller has been a rising star on the far right for years, often making headlines because of his polarizing demeanor and statements. He was reportedly the driving force behind the policy that separated immigrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border.
Glosser writes that his grandfather knew no English when he came to the US, but built a successful chain of family-owned supermarkets and discount department stores.
"This family emerged from poverty in a hostile country to become a prosperous, educated clan of merchants, scholars, professionals, and, most important, American citizens," Glosser wrote.
He also criticized the administration's travel ban, family separation policy, and expressed interest to cut down on legal immigration. "I shudder at the thought of what would have become of the Glossers had the same policies Stephen so coolly espouses ... been in effect when Wolf-Leib made his desperate bid for freedom," Glosser wrote.
Miller told The New York Times the zero-tolerance policy, which separated almost 2,000 children from their families in six weeks, was a "simple decision" and "the message is that no one is exempt from immigration law."
Glosser points to a thirst for political power "in the theater of right wing politics," as the driving force behind the policies Miller and Trump support, which he says are drafted without real people in mind and caused them to "become numb to the resultant human tragedy and blind to the hypocrisy of their policy decisions."
Pointing to Miller and the president's shared "immigrant and refugee roots," Glosser spreads the blame of hypocrisy to Trump as well, condemning the president's policies and rhetoric aimed at "refugees to make them seem less than human."
First lady Melania Trump's parents were sworn in as US citizens last week using family-based sponsorship, which Trump calls "chain migration" and has vowed to end - sparking reports pointing out the hypocrisy of Trump's espoused plans for policy.
Trump has sharply cut down on the number of refugee allowed into the US since he took office, and demanded that "extreme vetting" be implemented for refugees coming from majority-Muslim countries, though those close to the process say the current system is already as extreme as it gets.
"President Trump wants to make us believe that these desperate migrants are an existential threat to the United States; the most powerful nation in world history and a nation made strong by immigrants," Glosser wrote.
Glosser warns against the progress of these policies for the future of the US, writing, "No matter what opinion is held about immigration, any government that specifically enacts law or policy on that basis must be recognized as a threat to all of us. Laws bereft of justice are the gateway to tyranny."