Stephen Miller Labels U.S. Asylum System a 'Multibillion Dollar Fraudulent Industry' Designed to Delay Removals

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the U.S. asylum system is a "multibillion dollar fraudulent industry" used to delay deportations, expanding on a series of hardline immigration arguments he has made in recent weeks.

In a lengthy post on X, Miller asserted that there are no legitimate asylum seekers at the southern border and claimed that migrants routinely file false asylum applications as a way to avoid removal.

"It's a multibillion dollar fraudulent industry," Miller wrote, arguing that lawyers automatically submit asylum claims for migrants facing deportation despite knowing the claims are false. He said adjudicating those cases has become "a full-time job for thousands of people."

Miller contended that federal law requires migrants to be detained while asylum claims are processed and argued that delays in removal stem from what he described as fabricated claims. He also criticized past immigration practices under the Biden administration, alleging that migrants were released into the United States without proper screening and given court dates years in the future.

A little primer on “asylum”:1. There are no “asylum seekers” on the Southern Border. “Asylum” is limited to individuals fleeing extremely narrow categories of state persecution (eg high-ranking Soviet defectors during the Cold War) — none of the groups illegally crossing the…

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) February 2, 2026

The comments build on recent public statements in which Miller has questioned the scope of legal protections afforded to undocumented immigrants. In a video circulated online in late December, Miller said migrants are not entitled to due process protections when being removed from the country. "There are 15 million illegal aliens," he said. "If each were given a full trial, deportations would take centuries."

There is nothing more inimical to the principles that our country was founded on than a government official declaring that due process should be tossed aside.Everyone is entitled to due process. Everyone. We thought it so important we wrote it into the Constitution TWICE. https://t.co/IbgxtCRfip

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) December 25, 2025

Legal scholars and immigration advocates have disputed those claims, noting that Supreme Court precedent holds that noncitizens within the United States are entitled to due process protections in removal proceedings. Immigration researchers have also challenged Miller's estimate of the undocumented population, with the Pew Research Center placing the figure closer to 10.5 to 11 million.

Miller has also tied asylum and deportation issues to a broader critique of immigration policy, including birthright citizenship. In a separate post last month, he described birthright citizenship as an "illegal suicidal" policy and argued that it requires far stricter limits on who is allowed to enter the country. He has said immigration should be viewed not only as a border issue but as a multigenerational concern involving assimilation and citizenship.

• 'Remain in Mexico' Program Set to Resume Asylum Seeker Removals This Week: Report
• DHS Claims More Than 17,500 'Criminal Illegal Aliens' Arrested Under Laken Riley Act
• Trump Administration Seeks To Stop Asylum Process By Deporting People To Third-Party Countries

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