White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has issued a call for “patriots” to support the Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda by applying for a job with a jumped-up title.
Miller, seen as the architect behind many of Donald Trump’s most severe immigration policies, posted that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is now seeking so-called “homeland defenders”—an unofficial, MAGA-fied version of an immigration services officer, which can have a starting salary of just $34,000 a year.
“Your job will be to interview applicants for green cards, work visas and citizenship for approval or denial,” Miller wrote on X. “Great pay, flexible hours, stay local. Sign up to be a Homeland Defender today!”
Miller’s post shared a recruitment call from the Department of Homeland Security encouraging people to become “homeland defenders.”
The call included a quote from former President Calvin Coolidge, “Those who do not want to be partakers of the American spirit ought not to settle in America.”
The DHS post also featured an image of Norman Rockwell’s Working on the Statue of Liberty painting, with the words, “Protect your homeland. Defend your culture” added next to the iconic flame.
The Trump administration—which has frequently been accused of echoing Nazi sentiment and white supremacist rhetoric in its anti-immigration social media posts—has been condemned for using a symbol of the U.S. welcoming migrants in its recruitment drive for “homeland defenders.”
Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and a former senior U.S. humanitarian official, posted on X, “Who is partaking more of the American spirit? Immigrants who come here seeking protection and willing to work their asses off to make it in America? Or the masked goons from DHS who are tackling them in the street and throwing them into unmarked vans?”
Blogger and podcaster Jim Stewartson wrote, “This is just a straight up Nazi account.”
Gregg Nunziata, a conservative attorney and former counsel for Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, added, “Always thought the agency name ‘Department of Homeland Security’ creepy with midcentury authoritarian vibes. The agency is really leaning into that under Trump.”
Responding to the criticism, a White House spokesperson told the Daily Beast: “Cry more, libs.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin added: “United States citizenship is a privilege. It should not be a cake walk to obtain, and we are certainly not going to give it away.
“USCIS is working to overhaul the entire process to better comport with the letter and spirit of the law.”
