Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Southern Poverty Law Center adds Stephen Miller to its extremist list

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which documents hate across the United States, added a new entry to its list of extremists on Wednesday: White House senior advisor Stephen Miller.

The organization wrote in its entry for Miller that the aide “is credited with shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump.” It credits Miller with orchestrating the Trump administration’s hardline immigration positions, such as the zero-tolerance policy that has led to family separations at the southern border, the so-called Muslim Ban, the decision to halt green card issuance during the coronavirus pandemic.

It also blamed Miller for speeches made by Trump that were interpreted as dogwhistles for racists.

“Through the conscious use of fearmongering and xenophobia, Miller implements policies which demonize immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, in an apparent effort to halt all forms of immigration to the United States,” the SPLC argued.

The SPLC last year published hundreds of leaked emails from Miller that many categorized as racist.

Miller, who is Jewish, has long drawn the ire of major Jewish groups like the Union for Reform Judaism and the Anti-Defamation League, who demanded his resignation after the SPLC published an investigation into leaked emails from Miller that many interpreted as racist.

Miller has also been condemned by several family members for his anti-immigrant policies.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.