Stephen Miller may not be running for office, but on Monday he delivered a masterclass on illegal immigration that had conservatives applauding and corporate media reporters staring like deer in headlights.
The Trump administration’s senior immigration advisor, visibly irritated by the press corps’ lack of basic knowledge, took time outside the White House to dismantle the media’s latest talking points over the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — an illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member deported to El Salvador, whom the Supreme Court recently ruled the administration must be ready to “facilitate” for return if El Salvador sends him back.
Naturally, reporters took that to mean the Trump administration was breaking the law by not personally flying down, grabbing the guy, and parachuting him back into the U.S. Miller wasn’t having it.
“Do you know the difference between a deportation order and a holding order?” he asked pointedly. Silence followed. One meek reporter muttered, “Well, we’re not in the government.”
Miller shot back, “So you couldn’t even spend 72 hours over the weekend learning the distinction even though you’ve been writing and talking about it this whole time?”
I am SO GLAD the Trump administration decided to completely UNLEASH Stephen Miller on the media.
He regularly displays a masterclass in debunking their lies.
"Guys – do you know the difference between a deportation order and a withholding order? Do you know the difference? Any… pic.twitter.com/sDmzpLtiyu
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 14, 2025
And that pretty much set the tone for the next ten minutes: a humiliating tutorial on immigration law from a man who helped shape it. Miller laid out, in lawyerly fashion, what every D.C. beat reporter should already know — that a deportation order means the person is ordered removed from the United States, period. That’s what Garcia had. That’s why he was deported.
“He doesn’t get to live here. He has no future here,” Miller said, slicing through the nonsense like a hot knife through tofu. “So when you keep saying ‘return’ — because you’ve been spun up by open borders advocates — you’re operating under the illusion that he would come back and just continue living here illegally.”
As for the media’s apparent confusion, Miller added, “Not one person in the media knows the difference between a deportation order and a holding order. Is that a fair statement? I guess so.”
Ouch.
Miller also took the time to explain that El Salvadorians in the U.S. illegally do get deported—in large numbers—and that gang members like Garcia are not owed a red carpet or “due process” beyond what’s required under the law.
The left calls it cruel. America First calls it common sense. And judging by the silence of the reporters when Miller finally walked off, even they knew they got schooled.
The specific person in question is a criminal who belongs in prison. He is not a U.S, citizen. So why should he be brought to a U.S. prison and burden U.S. citizens with the cost rather than remaining in prison in his home country? Why do democrat politicians and judges even want criminals to be kept in the U.S. ?