Stephen Miller blamed the entire national debt on “people who don’t belong here,” and the real numbers make his claim fall apart

Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller said that “people who don’t belong here” are responsible for the United States‘ growing national debt. He made these claims during an executive order signing that focused on alleged fraud within federal programs. However, the actual data does not support his assertion.

Miller specifically blamed undocumented immigrants, claiming they receive Medicaid benefits and emergency hospital care. He suggested that Democrats have built a system to send “hundreds of billions, and ultimately trillions of dollars, to migrants” since President Trump took office. To support this, he offered one anecdote: that ICE agents questioned a group of detained migrants, and “half of them raised their hands and volunteered that they were on Medicaid.”

According to HuffPost, Miller went further, saying, “I believe, and I know President Trump believes, that when this theft is exposed, we will see that if all of it were stopped, it would be enough to balance the budget.” He called the “extraction of wealth from American taxpayers to people who don’t belong here” the “primary cause of the national debt.” He did not provide any data beyond that single anecdote.

Immigrants actually reduce the deficit, according to research the real debt drivers are far bigger

A study from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that immigrants, both legal and undocumented, contribute more in taxes than they receive in benefits each year, consistently from 1994 to 2023. 

The study found that if the government had spent nothing on immigrants but still collected their taxes, the U.S. would have faced a $20 trillion deficit over that period. The researchers stated clearly that “immigrants are not to blame for government deficits. Indeed, they reduced the deficit by about $14.5 trillion.”

Under federal law, undocumented immigrants are generally not eligible for benefits like SNAP, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, even though many still pay into these systems through taxes. Miller’s rhetoric around immigration and federal spending has drawn sharp criticism from political figures.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, for instance, was vocal about calling out Miller’s extreme political positions. On emergency care, federal law requires any Medicare-participating hospital with an emergency department to provide emergency treatment to anyone, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.

An analysis by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, established by a former U.S. secretary of commerce, points to much larger factors behind the national debt. A significant part of the debt’s rise over the last 25 years comes from an aging population receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits, as well as interest payments on the debt itself.

The U.S. Treasury Department also highlights major spikes in the national debt tied to the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, the Great Recession of 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the primary factors that have driven the country’s debt over the decades.

Miller did not address any of these factors in his remarks, nor did he provide evidence beyond a single anecdote. His immigration policies have had real consequences beyond just rhetoric; reports show that Trump’s family separation actions affecting hundreds of children have been directly tied to Miller’s influence in the administration.