The White House
· Public domain
Entry openedJun 2018
Last updatedAug 2026
Documented items1
Primary sources4
Page views59
White House staff
Stephen Miller
Senior adviser, both terms
Authored the family separation and mass deportation machinery in term one and returned to expand it in term two.
Documented conduct
Apr 6, 2018
The zero-tolerance direction and what followed
The Attorney General's April 2018 memorandum directed zero-tolerance prosecution of improper entry at the southwest border. The Department of Homeland Security's own Inspector General found that the resulting separations were carried out without the systems to track or reunite the families affected. He was the policy's chief architect inside the White House and returned in the second term as deputy chief of staff for policy.
Source: Office of the Attorney General, April 6 2018; DHS OIG, OIG-18-84