Who is Stephen Miller? The controversial Trump advisor identified for pushing for more migrant arrests and deportations

The new Chief of Staff for President Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, is one of his top advisors, a hardliner on immigration policy, a tool he considers essential to "save Western civilization."

Proudly loyal to Trump and his populist Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, Miller is 41 years old and is not a shadow advisor, as the discreet Susie Wiles, whom he replaces as Chief of Staff, was for nearly two years.

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Always dressed in impeccably tailored suits, just as comfortable in front of MAGA fans as he is before the cameras, Miller does not shy away from debates.

A graduate of Duke University, where he ran a conservative student newspaper, Miller designed the executive order policy that Trump has used massively, without hesitation to appeal to laws enacted decades or even a century ago, to justify everything from immigration raids to tariffs.

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- "The ruins of the West" -

It was Miller who, according to the Wall Street Journal, gave orders to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to increase the number of detainees and deportees this year.

Those orders led to immigration raids at a Home Depot store in Los Angeles last year that sparked clashes between protesters and federal agents, and to Trump's decision to send thousands of soldiers.

Miller, who grew up in Santa Monica (Los Angeles), turned without hesitation to social media to confront Democrats who accused Trump of authoritarianism.

"We have been saying for years that this is a fight to save civilization. Anyone with eyes can see it," Miller said.

In January of this year, other incidents, the shootings of two people by ICE in Minneapolis, reignited criticism, but Miller decided to ask for even more arrests.

When Congress was debating the major legislative project of Trump's second term, in the middle of last year, Miller snapped: "We will be debating these issues over the ruins of the West if we do not control migration."

Miller largely avoided the chaotic internal fighting that dominated the White House in Trump's first term. This advisor who likes to appear on camera remained loyal and stayed by his boss's side even when the Republican tycoon's first administration ended in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

- The Musk episode -

In the second Trump administration, Miller's ideas have become mainstream.

"I call Stephen 'Trump's brain'," said former Speaker of the House, Republican Kevin McCarthy, to the New York Times, just before the inauguration in January.

Miller was the driving force, in particular, behind the use of an obscure 200-year-old wartime law to deport undocumented migrants.

He shocked the opposition again when he stated on May 9 that the White House was "evaluating" suspending habeas corpus for migrants subject to deportation.

His good fortune was only tarnished when Miller and his wife Katie were caught in the explosive breakup between Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk.

Katie Miller had been a senior advisor and spokesperson at Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and, according to press reports, was about to leave to work at Musk's companies when he left the White House abruptly.