Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner and adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump, is taking over policy planning for the transition and is expected to be named deputy chief of staff in his administration, according to people briefed on the matter.
Mr. Miller assumed greater influence over the transition just as Mr. Trump announced late Sunday on social media that Thomas Homan, the acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency during Mr. Trump’s first term, would be his “border czar.”
With these moves, Mr. Trump is signaling his intention to fulfill a campaign promise: that he would enforce widespread deportations of undocumented immigrants and would restrict measures that allow some of them to be in the country legally.
It remains to be seen how broad Mr. Miller’s portfolio will be, but it is expected to be vast and to far exceed what the eventual title will convey, according to the people briefed on the matter.
A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Miller also did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Mr. Miller’s views are favored by Mr. Trump’s hard-line base. Vice President-elect JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., who has been influential in the transition, praised the prospective choice on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The expected move was reported earlier by CNN.
Mr. Trump has talked repeatedly since 2023 about his plans for the largest deportation effort in the country’s history. Among the only potential restraints on those efforts might be negative media coverage, such as the kind he faced when his first administration enacted the policy of separating children from their parents during unauthorized border crossings. Mr. Homan was an ardent supporter of that policy.
Mr. Miller is expected to work closely with Mr. Homan to oversee the planned deportations, as well as the nation’s maritime and aviation security. In an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired on CBS in October, Mr. Homan described “targeted arrests” and workplace enforcements when asked about the deportation plan.
“It’s not OK to enter a country illegally, which is a crime,” he said. “That’s what drives illegal immigration, when there’s no consequences.”
Mr. Miller was an influential aide in Mr. Trump’s first term and has remained an important adviser and speechwriter. He has been involved in Mr. Trump’s early transition planning meetings since their election victory last Tuesday and is expected to play a key role in staffing the government — especially regarding roles that intersect with immigration policy.
While many former Trump aides made themselves scarce after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Mr. Miller stayed close to Mr. Trump immediately after he left office. Mr. Miller advised Mr. Trump’s team on messaging and policy and formed a nonprofit group, America First Legal Foundation, to battle the Biden administration in the courts. He has been a frequent presence on Fox News defending Mr. Trump.
Mr. Miller traveled with Mr. Trump during the campaign and encouraged Mr. Trump’s instincts to elevate immigration as the top issue in the closing weeks of the race.
Mr. Miller, along with several of Mr. Trump’s first-term advisers who will return to the administration, also knows far more about the mechanisms of the federal government than he did when he first joined in 2017.
Over the past two years, Mr. Miller has also been working on detailed plans for mass deportations. He outlined these and other hard-line immigration policies in an interview with The New York Times last year. The plans include restricting legal and illegal immigration in a number of ways, including rounding up undocumented immigrants already in the United States and detaining them in camps before they’re expelled from the country.
A handful of other people from the top of Mr. Trump’s campaign ranks are expected to be among the deputy chiefs of staff announced as soon as Monday.
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