Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and a leading architect of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, posted a late-night rant on X that quickly drew criticism and widespread fact-checking.
In an 11:20 p.m. post, Miller argued that the modern world failed to match older technological expectations because the West diverted resources to the "underdeveloped world." He wrote that "a young man who watched the Wright brothers take flight lived to watch American astronauts stroll on the moon" and asked why the modern world doesn't look like ancestors imagined.
That post followed a similar message the night before proposing a counterfactual: an alternate history in which the United States remained closed to the "entire third world" for six decades after early technological milestones. Miller added that "for those who don't know, the U.S. had negative migration for the half century between the first nonstop transatlantic flight and the moon landing."
Immediate Pushback and Fact-Checks
Critics quickly challenged Miller's framing as misleading and historically tone-deaf. Several commentators pointed out that Miller's own family story undercuts his argument: he is descended from Jewish immigrants who fled persecution in Europe and were welcomed to the United States.
'A young man who watched the Wright brothers take flight lived to watch American astronauts stroll on the moon,' Miller wrote on X. 'So why doesn’t the modern world look like our ancestors imagined it?' (Getty Images)
Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter, responded on X: 'You’re only here because America decided to welcome your family when they were refugees fleeing poverty and violence.'
Journalists and commentators also highlighted the central role immigrants played in American scientific and industrial advances. Mehdi Hasan noted that Egyptian-American geologist Dr. Farouk El-Baz contributed significantly to NASA's Apollo program, and others pointed to German-born Wernher von Braun's role in rocket development. "Learn to use Google, Stephen," Hasan wrote.
Observers emphasized that immigrants and their descendants founded or led major technology companies and drove innovation across sectors. UCLA neuroscientist Matt Lieberman noted that companies such as Apple, Google and Nvidia were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants.
Family Response
Miller's posts came about two weeks after his cousin, Alisa Kasmer, publicly criticized his immigration policies, saying the restrictions he supports likely would have prevented their own family from entering the U.S. "We're Jewish — we grew up knowing how hated we were just for existing," Kasmer told The New Republic, arguing that Miller's policies would deny the opportunities his family once received.
Whether readers agree with Miller or his critics, the exchange quickly turned into a broader debate about immigration, history and the many contributions immigrants have made to American science, industry and culture.
