Stephen Miller: The Man With No Memory

Immigration to America Saved His Family From Extermination

David S. Glosser is Stephen Miller’s uncle. In 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term, Glosser, a neuropsychologist, wrote a compelling article for Politico. I recently came across the article, which retells the story of Miller’s maternal ancestors’ escape from violent anti-Jewish pogroms and forced childhood conscription in what is now Belarus. I decided to repost it today.

The first family settler, Wolf-Lieb Glosser, landed on Ellis Island on January 7, 1903. He had $8 in his pocket and spoke no English. More family members followed. The family did not have it easy, but they persevered—Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s right-hand man, is their legacy.

Wolf could have decided to wait. Had he waited until 1940, America would have turned him away. Why? Because he would have slammed into the wall of the original “America First” movement—in 1940, Charles Lindbergh and his political followers closed U.S. borders to Jewish refugees. According to David Glosser, all but seven of the two thousand Jews who remained in Antopol survived the Holocaust.

Miller’s family history is not unique. Unfortunately, most American Jewish families who immigrated to America in the Twentieth Century have similar histories and horror stories. Precious few Jews survived the slaughter of 1930s and 40s Europe. My cousin was his family’s only survivor.

One Jew does not speak for all. Stephen Miller and David Glosser come from the same family and have drastically opposing views on our current immigration situation. The same is true on all sides of my extended family. Still, like David Glasser, I cannot understand how any American Jew can support turning victims of tyranny away from the southern border.

No immigration? No Stephen Miller. No immigration? No Mark Bello. Isn’t the issue that simple? And if Stephen and I owe our existence to immigration, how can we be anti-immigration? David Weigel wrote a great article yesterday opining that Republicans would rather focus on immigration issues because the fact that they are about to cut Medicaid benefits is a political loser. He’s right, but why? Don’t most of us, Jew or Gentile, have similar family immigration histories? Perhaps it’s because of the perception that many Twenty-First Century immigrants are undocumented. Is it because Trump calls them “criminals?” With good old American compassion (and a compassionate Congress), we could resolve those issues with no mass deportations while providing due process for all.

I would love to hear from you. There is a comments section at the bottom of this article. Please use it to tell your family’s immigration story. Or, if you oppose 21st Century style immigration, please explain why the plight of people escaping tyranny today is, somehow, different than the plight of our ancestors. Keep things civil, please. Thank you.