A top White House official on Sunday said the stepped up arrests of illegal immigrants charged with multiple crimes will lead to a safer America.

Stephen Miller, the president's policy director, said, "the cases that I'm familiar with...have to do with removing criminal aliens, individuals who have criminal charges or convictions against them. And that's what's been taking place all across the country. And the effect of that is going to be saving many American lives, American property and American safety.

Critics of the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have focused on the few arrests of illegal immigrants who don't also have criminal records or charges beyond their being in the United States unlawfully.

But Miller, an ally and former aide to Attorney General Jeff Sessions who also takes a critical view of illegal immigration, said the focus has been on outlaw immigrants. And, he added, tackling the problem of having 3 million to 4 million with criminal records in the United States is a no-brainer.

"The bottom line is this: in the calculation between open borders and saving American lives, it is the easiest choice we will ever have to make," he said on Face the Nation.

President Trump ran on a promise to crackdown on illegal immigrants especially those with additional criminal records, and he congratulated Miller's TV appearance on Twitter.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com