Stephen Miller drives Trump’s immigration crackdown into a new phase
White House records list Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, placing him near the centre of President Donald Trump’s second-term immigration apparatus. The White House’s 20 January 2025 executive order directed agencies to expand detention, expedited removals, state-local enforcement agreements and penalties against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. The Department of State says Belgian citizens remain eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, but ESTA approval does not guarantee admission at the US border. Brookings researchers estimated in May 2026 that more than 145,000 US citizen children had probably experienced a parent being booked into immigration detention since Trump returned to office. For Belgium Pulse readers, the story is chiefly about US governance and migration policy; Belgium enters through travel, study, business mobility and the EU’s wider debate over how liberal democracies balance border control with rights protections.
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About this story
Stephen Miller (US political adviser, born 1985, now listed by the White House as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser) is a long-time architect of Trump immigration policy. Donald Trump (US president, returned to office on 20 January 2025) made mass deportation a central campaign promise. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE (Department of Homeland Security agency created in 2003), carries out interior immigration arrests, detention and removals. Kristi Noem (South Dakota Republican and Trump-era homeland security secretary in 2025 reporting) was cited in immigration-enforcement escalation accounts. The Visa Waiver Program (US system allowing short tourism or business travel without a visa) includes Belgium, according to the Department of State. ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization, run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) is required before Belgian short-stay travellers board a US-bound carrier. Brookings Institution (Washington-based research organisation founded in 1916) produced the child-separation estimate used here.
How to read this story
The history
The White House’s 20 January 2025 executive order revoked several Biden-era immigration directives and ordered expanded detention, expedited removals, 287(g) state-local enforcement agreements and funding reviews of NGOs serving removable migrants. The policy echoes Trump’s first term, when the 2018 “zero tolerance” border prosecution policy produced widespread family separations before Trump signed an executive order on 20 June 2018 intended to halt routine separation of families at the border. The deeper precedent is statutory: section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, created in 1996, lets local officers perform certain federal immigration functions under ICE supervision.
The geopolitics
The broader issue is how a major democratic ally uses state power over borders, identity and internal enforcement. For the EU, the US approach sits beside European debates over asylum externalisation, return policy and security screening. Washington’s choices can influence global norms because the United States remains a benchmark for rights litigation, migration control and executive authority.
Why now
The lead is timely because a new documentary focus on Miller lands after more than a year of second-term Trump immigration actions, including the 20 January 2025 executive order, expanded enforcement reporting and May 2026 research estimating the impact on US citizen children.
What to watch
Watch for US court decisions on detention and arrest practices, new DHS or ICE detention data, changes to ESTA or visa guidance, and any congressional funding fights over immigration enforcement. Belgian readers with US travel should monitor official Department of State and CBP guidance before departure.
International angle
This is a US domestic policy story with transatlantic consequences. Belgium is in the US Visa Waiver Program, so many Belgian tourists, conference-goers and business visitors use ESTA rather than a visa. The Department of State’s reminder that ESTA does not guarantee entry matters more in a stricter enforcement climate, especially for travellers with complex nationality or travel histories.
What this means for you
Belgian citizens planning short US trips should check ESTA status before booking non-refundable travel, carry documents matching the purpose of travel, and remember that ESTA is not a right of entry. Students, researchers and workers need the correct visa category, not Visa Waiver travel, when the trip involves study for credit, employment or longer stays.
What happens next
The next signals are enforcement data, court rulings and budget decisions rather than one single deadline. US agencies could continue expanding detention, removals and state-local cooperation under the January 2025 order. Federal courts may further test arrests, expedited-removal procedures and detention practices. For Belgian travellers, the practical watchpoint remains official US entry guidance and any change to ESTA, visa or border-screening rules.
Potential consequences
The most immediate consequence is a deeper chilling effect inside US immigrant communities, with possible knock-on effects for schools, workplaces, local policing and child welfare. Internationally, sustained hardline enforcement could make the United States a less predictable destination for students, researchers and business visitors who have complex travel histories or dual nationality. It could also complicate EU-US rights diplomacy if detention and due-process disputes keep moving through US courts.
Opposing perspectives
- Trump White House / Department of Homeland Security
The administration’s strongest case is that immigration law must be enforced at scale after years of perceived non-enforcement. The White House executive order frames expanded detention, removals, local cooperation and funding reviews as necessary to protect public safety, national security and the integrity of federal law.
- Immigrant-rights and civil-liberties organisations
Rights groups argue the crackdown turns numerical pressure into due-process risk. Their strongest version is that courthouse arrests, expanded 287(g) agreements and broad detention powers deter people from attending hearings, reporting crimes or keeping families stable, while increasing the chance of racial profiling and unlawful detention.
- Child and family policy researchers
Brookings researchers frame the issue less as border politics than as foreseeable harm to US citizen children. Their analysis argues that immigration enforcement creates a child-welfare problem when the state detains parents but does not systematically track, protect or support the children left behind.
Timeline
- 1996·The US Congress created section 287(g) authority in the Immigration and Nationality Act framework.
- 2018-06-20·Trump signed an executive order after backlash over family separations under the zero-tolerance border policy.
- 2025-01-20·Trump returned to office and issued the White House order titled “Protecting The American People Against Invasion.”
- 2025-05-20·Independent reporting documented rapid expansion of ICE 287(g) agreements with state and local agencies.
- 2025-05-30·Independent reporting said Miller and Kristi Noem pressed ICE toward a 3,000-arrests-per-day target.
- 2026-05-18·Brookings published estimates of US citizen children affected by parental immigration detention.
- 2026-06-11·The Fault Lines documentary lead renewed attention on Miller’s role in Trump’s immigration agenda.
Glossary
- Visa Waiver Program
- A US programme allowing eligible citizens of listed countries, including Belgium, to travel for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visitor visa if they meet the rules.
- ESTA
- Electronic System for Travel Authorization, the pre-travel approval required for Visa Waiver Program travel to the United States.
- 287(g) agreement
- A US Immigration and Nationality Act mechanism allowing state or local law-enforcement officers to perform specified federal immigration functions under ICE supervision.
- Expedited removal
- A US immigration procedure allowing certain people to be removed without a full immigration-court hearing.
Related to this story
Live connections from the Belgium Impulse ecosystem — not recommendations.
This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.