Trump aide Stephen Miller expressed anger to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership about a recent drop in immigrant arrests and made statements that left some people worried about being fired, three sources familiar with the call told NBC News.
Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, had told senior leaders at ICE during a similar meeting in May that they needed to arrest more than 3,000 immigrants a day or face potential firings, two sources familiar with that meeting told NBC News at the time.
In the recent call, Miller was angry about a drop in arrests over the July Fourth holiday.
According to one of the sources familiar with the call, a former Department of Homeland Security official, Miller demanded that 8,000 deportations happen by the end of the week and said there would be consequences if that did not happen.
“Nobody knows” what he was referring to by “consequences,” the former DHS official said, but at least some interpreted it as a threat of firings.
“The pressure is crushing,” said one of the sources familiar with the call. “Miller is not happy with the way things are going and the speed [of arrests].”
In a statement to NBC News, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “ICE Officers are doing tremendous work in the face of violent opposition and unhinged rhetoric from the Left.”
“There is always room to increase the number of arrests and deportations,” Jackson added, claiming then-President Joe Biden “let millions and millions of criminal illegals invade our country.” She added that the Republican domestic policy bill that Trump signed last week “gives ICE much-needed resources to continue carrying out the largest mass deportation operation in history.”
NBC News reported earlier this week that immigrant arrest numbers were high in June, but deportations were still lagging.
White House border czar Tom Homan said he wants to see arrests reach 7,000 a day once ICE receives more than $45 billion from the GOP bill.