He is the architect of some of Donald Trump’s most controversial policies and a hero to the Republican base who helped him win a second term.
Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump‘s White House deputy chief of staff, is portrayed by the left as a merciless villain ripping apart families and the seams of American society.
The 39-year-old grew up in the deep blue coastal city of Santa Monica, California, where he was a controversial figure even as a teen attending Santa Monica High School.
Other notable graduates include Robert Downey Jr, Sean Penn and Rob Lowe along with brothers Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen.
He was known by his classmates for his unapologetic and contrarian opinions. He would criticize their lifestyles and get into heated debates in the halls about climate change.
Today, Miller, who graduated in the class of 2003, is almost as famous as the Hollywood stars – with his headline-grabbing, hardline immigration plans.
Back in Democrat-run Santa Monica – 2,300 miles from Washington, DC, where he’s one of the most influential figures in Trump’s inner circle – locals are less than impressed with Miller’s meteoric climb to the top of American politics.
Some think growing up in such a staunchly-liberal community gave him the foundation for his ideas. Others believe that his conservative policies could help fix problems in Los Angeles – such as crimes and homelessness.
Some believe Miller growing up in such a staunchly-liberal community gave him the foundation for his ideas which include a hardline immigration policy
‘I think people are sad that the words ‘Santa Monica’ and ‘Stephen Miller’ are synonymous, because no one wants that connection,’ Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete has reportedly said.
‘He’s an idiot,’ Leesa Eichberger told the Daily Mail bluntly of Miller during a lunchtime meeting with a friend.
‘Santa Monica has always leaned left,’ she added, also suggesting Miller’s fierce political views are ‘a product of him rebelling against the environment he was coming from – and then he took it to the other extreme.’
The 50-year-old chief marketing officer said she is ‘frustrated with taking hardworking people who have really brought value to our society and just rounding them up and taking them out’ regardless of whether they are in the country illegally or not.
‘The idea of sending someone who doesn’t speak a language back home where they have no community, that feels just inhumane,’ added Eichberger.
Stephen Miller is the architect of some of Donald Trump’s most controversial policies. Critics in his hometown of Santa Monica say he’s getting revenge for his childhood years
‘But if they’re not criminals and they’re contributing [to] society, and especially if they’re paying taxes, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do morally or even legally.’
Another way many immigrants help society, she said, is by performing manual labor tasks that American workers refuse to do.
‘We don’t have a society in the States anymore that is open to doing that level of really heavy manual labor for the wages that people are making,’ she said.
She is, though, strongly in favor of ‘rounding up criminals and rapists and horrible members of society. Let’s get those people out.
‘Somebody who’s committed crimes and is here illegally shouldn’t stay here,’ she commented. ‘We shouldn’t be paying for their prison and supporting or encouraging criminals to live here.
Longtime Santa Monica resident Chloe Anderson also condemned Miller’s federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids as ‘awful’ and ‘callous.’
The 36-year-old screenwriter spoke while relaxing at La La Land Kind Cafe on exclusive Montana Avenue where attractive hipster customers sip on French Toast Lattes and nibble on Truffle Burrata Toast.
‘The way they’re doing it is very aggressive,’ she added of the Miller-designed immigration sweeps in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. ‘He’s gone too far.’
Marcia Garcia, 53, was born in America to immigrant parents who met when they moved to the US. Her father was originally from Mexico, and her mother from El Salvador.
Miller was known by his classmates for his unapologetic and contrarian opinions. He would criticize their lifestyles and get into heated debates in the halls about climate change
‘I feel bad because my mom does have a lot of friends who are illegal and they are all scared,’ Garcia told the Daily Mail.
‘They should relax on the farm workers and the people who’ve been here 20 years and have roots – if you’ve been paying your taxes and you do have your paperwork to try to get your green card.’
According to old classmates, Miller, then with a full head of dark hair, was an outspoken conservative as a student, and frequently submitted opinion pieces to the school newspaper paper critiquing multicultural initiatives.
He even called out the school’s use of Spanish during announcements and condemned celebrations like Cinco de Mayo as undermining American unity.
While running for student assembly president, Miller gave a speech infamous for mocking students being told to clean up trash, arguing that janitors were paid to do it. The audience reacted with boos, and faculty allegedly removed him from the stage after about 90 seconds.
The incident was later interpreted by some classmates as satire or a prank, but many found it offensive, primarily because custodial staff were predominantly people of color.
Miller attended a school committee meant to promote equity for Hispanic and Black students – but others felt his presence was intended to undermine the effort.
He challenged the existence of ethnic studies, LGBTQ programming and other multicultural initiatives as divisive or patronizing.
Vermont state Senator Kesha Ram Hinsale attended high school at the same time as Miller and witnessed his blossoming political priorities firsthand.
The Democrat told the Daily Mail that the feisty young student was ‘pretty relentless in trying to attack everyone else’s opinion and lifestyle.
‘It felt like we were watching his villain origin story unfold.
‘He would corner me in the hall to argue about whether climate change was caused by humans or volcanoes.
‘He put up flyers for a ‘white straight male alliance’ and told people he couldn’t be friends with them because they weren’t white.’
Hinsale, 38, added, ‘For a lot of us, it was our first brush with hateful, divisive rhetoric and a dismissal of science.
Miller, pictured with wife Katie, is as famous as some of the Hollywood stars who graduated from his high school
‘He wasn’t hiding behind a computer – he stood up in auditoriums and said, ‘this is what I think’,’ she added.
‘The narrative of him being ostracized for his beliefs is partially fabricated. He wanted attention and shock value.
‘He’s been malicious from high school onward – whether for shock value or because it aligned with his beliefs.’
Author Jean Guerrero wrote a 2020 biography of Miller titled Hatemonger and said he has ‘been trying through various means, to have what I see as a form of revenge on the communities that rejected him in Los Angeles.’
Miller does still have support in his hometown, known as the People’s Republic of Santa Monica.
Anderson, the screenwriter, said Miller’s ICE raids were ‘getting a lot of criminals’.
The former liberal admitted she became a Trump supporter after seeing the number of homeless people in the city explode, and praised Miller for tackling the problem of undocumented migrants in the US.
‘Crime is so out of control here,’ she said. ‘It’s never been this bad. It’s a s*** show here. It’s like, so dangerous. It’s just such a mess.
‘The taxes I’m paying are so insane – then there’s homeless and criminals at my doorstep all the time.
‘I pay a lot to live here but every day I see 40 to 60 homeless. It’s supposed to be a nice, safe area. But on three different times, I’ve been accosted in my garage.
‘I never see any outreach in the entire time I’ve lived here – I’ve never seen an outreach group working with the homeless.
‘Where’s all this money for the homeless going? I’ve never seen one person here, one group, one van, trying to help the people.
‘The government is corrupt – I know this money is being funneled elsewhere.’
She called California ‘the most corrupt government of any state in this country’ and said, ‘People are afraid to speak up.’
While most in Santa Monica despise Miller’s policies, there are some who think his conservative policies could help address crime and homelessness
Anderson said she previously identified as a progressive liberal, but ‘was never a full liberal.
‘I call myself a social liberal and a fiscal conservative.’
Anderson claimed that gangs from Chile, Venezuela, Honduras and the Dominican Republic targeted homes in the evacuation zones during the January Pacific Palisades and Malibu wildfires.
‘During the fires, we were supposed to be evacuated, but we saw packs of looters coming in so we stayed home,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘I saw people trying to break in. It was insane. They were ready to go before people left. So we didn’t leave.’
