Stephen Miller is one of the most influential advisors in the White House. He has crafted Donald Trump's speeches, designed immigration policies that ban Muslims and separate families, and outlasted such Trump stalwarts as Steve Bannon and Jeff Sessions. Investigative journalist Jean Guerrero charts the thirty-four-year-old's rise to power.
A fascinating analysis of Miller and his frightening effects on immigration policy, enriched by the author’s vast experience reporting on the U.S.-Mexico border. Recommended for readers interested in politics and immigration.
... uneven yet timely ... Guerrero spends much of her book plumbing Miller’s early years for the origins of his animus against immigrants, with intriguing but inconclusive results. She makes far clearer how right-wing and nationalistic media personalities provided Miller the platform and tactics to hone his political vision — and theirs — and continued shaping his views during his time as a Senate aide and as a Trump adviser ... Guerrero drops tantalizing suggestions about Miller’s motivations.
Guerrero sometimes shades off into idle speculation, as when she connects Miller’s California origins to Hollywood make-believe, but her account of his unsentimental education by way of racist texts, a carefully cultivated hatred for the nonwhite world, and a core group of mentors is carefully documented and persuasive ... A readable study in the banality of evil, even if it comes clothed in bespoke suits.
