--- title: Stephen Miller Is an 'Immigration Hypocrite,' Says His Uncle description: Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to President Trump on immigration policy, has been branded an “immigration hypocrite” by his uncle. canonical: https://time.com/5365329/stephen-miller-uncle/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-13T13:04:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T07:45:32.647Z article:section: Politics og:title: Stephen Miller's Uncle Calls Him An 'Immigration Hypocrite' og:description: 'If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out' og:url: https://time.com/5365329/stephen-miller-uncle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04c37e1461b8ef4d/698937a0fb4eac43ed8975cc/stephen-miller-uncle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Stephen Miller og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Miller's Uncle Calls Him An 'Immigration Hypocrite' twitter:description: 'If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04c37e1461b8ef4d/698937a0fb4eac43ed8975cc/stephen-miller-uncle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Miller's Uncle Calls Him An 'Immigration Hypocrite' in a New Column > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3163471a-5e9d-4808-89ed-213160202f19&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy [Watch (HLS stream): White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Jr1a4tYu.m3u8) (6:37)  _Published 2017-08-02. A key White House aide staunchly defended the immigration reform bill backed by the White House Wednesday, at one point arguing that the poem inscribed on the State of Liberty doesn't encapsulate the country's values on this issue._  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Aug 13, 2018 1:04 PM UTC A key White House aide staunchly defended the immigration reform bill backed by the White House Wednesday, at one point arguing that the poem inscribed on the State of Liberty doesn't encapsulate the country's values on this issue.  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Aug 13, 2018 1:04 PM UTC [Stephen Miller](http://time.com/5091506/jake-tapper-stephen-miller-interview-fire-and-fury/), a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, has been branded an “immigration hypocrite” by his uncle, David S. Glosser, in a column in which Glosser describes his Jewish family’s immigrant roots and makes a veiled comparison between the Trump administration’s policies and Nazism. Miller is an architect of several of the Trump administration’s [controversial immigration policies](http://time.com/5120633/trump-daca-plan-immigration-reaction/), including the travel ban and family separation. Behind the scenes, Miller has also helped reduce the number of refugees being allowed into the U.S. to its lowest level in decades. Miller’s uncle, David S. Glosser, a retired neuropsychologist, wrote in [Politico](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/13/stephen-miller-is-an-immigration-hypocrite-i-know-because-im-his-uncle-219351): “If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.” Glosser told the story of his father, Wolf-Leib Glosser (Miller’s grandfather), a Jewish refugee from Antopol, in what is now Belarus, who arrived in the U.S. in 1903 after fleeing anti-Jewish violence. “I shudder at the thought of what would have become of the Glossers had the same policies Stephen so coolly espouses — the travel ban, the radical decrease in refugees, the separation of children from their parents, and even talk of limiting citizenship for legal immigrants — been in effect when Wolf-Leib made his desperate bid for freedom,” Glosser wrote. “The Glossers came to the U.S. just a few years before the fear and prejudice of the ‘America First’ nativists of the day closed U.S. borders to Jewish refugees,” he continued. “Had Wolf-Leib waited, his family would likely have been murdered by the Nazis along with all but seven of the 2,000 Jews who remained in Antopol. I would encourage Stephen to ask himself if the chanting, torch-bearing Nazis of Charlottesville, whose support his boss seems to court so cavalierly, do not envision a similar fate for him.” Glosser’s comments come just a day after the first anniversary of the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally, during which white nationalists marched while chanting “you will not replace us” and one anti-fascist counter-protester was killed. Only a smattering of white nationalists showed up for an anniversary march in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, and they were [greatly outnumbered](http://time.com/longform/charlottesville-unite-right-washington-protest/) by counter-protestors. “President Trump wants to make us believe that these desperate migrants are an existential threat to the United States; the most powerful nation in world history and a nation made strong by immigrants,” Glosser wrote. “Trump and my nephew both know their immigrant and refugee roots. Yet, they repeat the insults and false accusations of earlier generations against these refugees to make them seem less than human.” ## Transcript What your proposing or what the president's proposing here does not sound like it's in keeping with American tradition when it comes to immigration. The statue of liberty says, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, [ UNKNOWN ] Doesn't say anything about speaking English or be a computer programmer. Aren't you trying to. Change what it means to be an immigrant coming into this country, if you're telling them you have to speak English? Can't people learn to speak English when they get here? First of all, right now, it's a requirement that to be naturalized, you had to speak English. So the notion that speaking English wouldn't be a part of our immigration systems, it would actually be very ahistorical. Secondly, I don't want to get off into a whole thing about history here, but the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of liberty enlightening the world. It's a symbol of American liberty lighting the world. The poem that you're referring to was added later, it's not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty. But more fundamentally, the history You're saying that that is not but, more fundamentally, the history I'm saying-- When the country has always thought of [ CROSSTALK ]? I'm saying the notion-- Stephen. I'm sorry. That sounds like some national park revisionism. [ LAUGH ] No, what I'm asking is-- The Statue of Liberty has always been a beacon of hope to the world for people to [ UNKNOWN ] and they're not always going to speak English, Steven, they're not always Jim. Jim. Jim. [ CROSSTALK ] Be highly skilled they're not always should be somebody- Jim, Jim, Jim, I appreciate your speech, Jim, I appreciate your speech so let's talk about this. No it was a modest- Jim, let's talk about this. In 1970, when we let in 3, 00. 000 people a year, was that violating or not violating the statue of Liberty law of the land? In 1990's when it was half a million a year was that a violating or not violating the statue of Liberty law of the land? Was it violating. Was it violating the statute of liberty [ CROSSTALK ] When it was 700 thousand year, tell me what years meet Jim Acosta definition of the statue of liberty poem law of the land. Is the Statue of Liberty number, nine hundred thousand violates, eight hundred thousand violates it . >> You're sort of bringing a press one for English philosophy here . >> Jim. Jim . >> To immigration and that's not what the United States has been about . >> But you're statements also shocking historical in another respect too, which is if you look at the history of immigration It's actually ebbed and flowed. We've had periods of very large waves, followed by periods of less immigration and more immigration. And during the- We're in a period of immigration right now. Do you want us to build a wall, or do you want to bring about a sweeping change to the immigration- Surely, Jim, you don't actually think that a wall affects green card policy. You couldn't possible believe that do you? Actually the notion that you actually think immigration is at a historic low. The foreign born population in the United States today [ CROSS TALK ] Jim. Jim. > The new Chief of Staff on monday, talking about how border crossing [ CROSSTALK ] > Do you really, I want to be serious Jim, do you really at CNN not know the difference. Between green card policy and illegal immigration, I mean, you really don't know that? [ INAUDIBLE ] Cuban immigrant. He came to this country in 1962 right before the Cuban Missile Crisis and obtained a green card. Yes, people who immigrate to this country should eventually- So Jim, it's a factual question Jim. Not through asylum, through [ INAUDIBLE ]. Jim, as a factual question Do obtain a green card at some point, they do it through a lot of hard work. And yes, they may learn English as a second language later on in life. But this whole notion of well they have to learn English before they get to the United States, are we just gonna bring in people from Great Britain and Australia. Jim actually I have to honestly say I am shocked At your statement, that you think that only people from Great Britain and Australia would know English. It reveals your cosmopolitan bias to a shocking degree, that in your mind, no, this is an amazing moment. This is an amazing moment. That you think only people from Great Britain or Australia would speak English is so insulting to millions of hardworking immigrants who do speak English from all over the world. Jim, have you honestly never met an immigrant from another country who speaks English outside of Great Britain and Australia? Is that your personal experience? Of course there are people who come into this country from other parts- But that's not what you said. And it shows your cosmopolitan bias. And I just wanna say- Engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country. Yeah, that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant, and foolish things you've ever said. And for you, the notion that you think that this is a racist bill is so wrong and so insulting. Jim. The reality is that the foreign born population into our country has quadrupled since 1970. That's a fact. It's been mostly driven by Green Card policy. Now, this bill allows for immediate nuclear family members to come into the country much as they would today. And then it adds an additional points based system. The people that have been hurt the most-- [ UNKNOWN ] The people who've been hurt the most by the polls that you're advocating-- What policy am I advocating? Apparently just unfettered, uncontrolled migration. The people who've been hurt the most by the policy-- [ CROSSTALK ] The people that are hurt the most by the policy that you're. The people that have been hurt the policy you're advocating. Are immigrant workers and minority workers, and African American workers and Hispanic workers. Are you targeting African American communities. You brought it up again. You said you wanted to have a conversation and not target. What we wanna do African- American community are you going to target? I'm not trying to be funny. Right, I know. What you're saying is 100 % correct. We want to help unemployed African- Americans in this country and unemployed workers of all backgrounds get jobs. And insinuations like Jim made, trying to ascribe nefarious motives To a compassion immigration measure designed to help newcomers and current arrivals alike is wrong and this is a positive optimistic proposal that says 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. Ignorant. Ten years, 20 years, 30 years from now, we want to have an immigration system that takes care of the people who are coming here, and the people who are already living here, by having standards. By having a real clear requirement that you be able to support yourself financially, by making sure that employers can pay A living wage. That's the right policy for our country, and it's the president's commitment to taking care of American workers. I apologize Jim if things got heated, but you did make some pretty rough insinuations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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