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Democratic Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-California) called for the firing of White House aide Stephen Miller over his spearheading of family separation and the bungled “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

Lowenthal — whose district covers Long Beach, just south of where Miller grew up in Santa Monica — called for the conservative firebrand’s ouster on June 22, two days after President Donald Trump buckled to pressure and rescinded his family separation policy while House Republican leaders were still trying to secure enough votes to pass an immigration bill.

“Separating children and their parents is traumatic, brutal, and un-American. The images of detention facilities, of cages and chain link fences, are heartbreaking. As a community psychologist, I know just how harmful it can be. Family separation is wrong, and the American people know it. It’s inhumane. And in spite of the President’s efforts to stoke fears of mass immigrant crime, it’s unnecessary,” Lowenthal told the Forward in a statement.

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“Stephen Miller, by many accounts, is one of the prime architects of this cruel policy. It certainly fits with a worldview he has evidently espoused for a great deal of his life. This worldview, just like the policy, is abhorrent. It should be rejected—not whispered in the ear of the President of the United States.”

Republican Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colorado) also called for Miller to be fired. The White House did not return an immediate request for comment.

Miller became staunch conservative after growing up with liberal Jewish family in southern California — something that upset several of his relatives.

He helped kill comprehensive immigration reform in 2014 while working as an aide to Jeff Sessions. Miller then became close to Steve Bannon and the two reportedly bonded over their immigrations views.

He joined Trump’s campaign as a policy advisor in January 2016 and was credited with helping to push the president toward a more severe immigration stance.

The president has seemed to give up on the idea of passing a broad immigration bill before the November elections and is again using the issue as a rallying cry to elect more Republicans.

Elect more Republicans in November and we will pass the finest, fairest and most comprehensive Immigration Bills anywhere in the world. Right now we have the dumbest and the worst. Dems are doing nothing but Obstructing. Remember their motto, RESIST! Ours is PRODUCE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018

Contact Ben Fractenberg at [email protected] or on Twitter, @fractenberg

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