Trump Administration Adopts "Remigration" Terminology, Signaling Ethnic Exclusionary Policies

Key Quotes

"So remigration is a concept that you know in its current iteration is traced back to the white nationalist movement in Europe and it basically means uh ethnically cleansing traditionally white countries through the organized deportation of non white people."

Odette Yousef explains that "remigration," in its current form, originates from the white nationalist movement in Europe. Yousef clarifies that the term fundamentally refers to the organized removal of non-white individuals from countries historically considered white.

"The Trump administration has refocused some of its immigration policy on pushing immigrants to quote 'remigrate,' to leave the country voluntarily. We're going to take a deep dive into the roots of this policy and how it's shaping life in America today."

Sarah McCammon introduces the central theme of the podcast episode, highlighting the Trump administration's shift in immigration policy towards encouraging voluntary departure, termed "remigration." McCammon signals an intention to explore the origins and impact of this policy.

"This administration really quickly early on launched a big campaign urging immigrants to quote 'self-deport.' So we've seen a huge ad campaign that you may have seen on television or even streaming services; they took an application that was originally used to schedule asylum appointments and they made it a way for people to say that they were voluntarily leaving the country."

Ximena Bustillo details a specific initiative by the Trump administration to encourage immigrants to leave voluntarily, known as "self-deportation." Bustillo points to a significant advertising campaign and the repurposing of an asylum appointment application as key components of this effort.

"Very explicitly, we saw that the day after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guardsmen in Washington D.C., President Trump posted something to Truth Social calling for reverse migration. You know, we've also seen in the reorganization plans for the State Department a proposed office of remigration."

Odette Yousef provides examples of the explicit use of "remigration" and related terminology by the Trump administration. Yousef cites President Trump's social media posts and proposed government restructuring as evidence of this explicit adoption of the language.

"The biggest change is definitely the turning to these legal forms of migration and even going as far back and threatening to strip status broadly from anyone that was admitted into the country legally by the last administration. You know, that is very, very sweeping, very deep, and also very confusing."

Ximena Bustillo identifies a significant shift in the administration's approach to immigration policy, focusing on legal pathways and the potential revocation of status for those admitted under previous administrations. Bustillo emphasizes the broad and disorienting nature of these changes.

"They're important to understand because they really reveal the transnational nature of these extreme movements and so it's quite interesting to see that while the idea originated in Europe, identitarian leaders in Europe are now looking at what's happening in the U.S. with the operationalization of these kind of immigration crackdowns that we have seen in many urban centers."

Odette Yousef explains the significance of understanding the international connections of extreme movements related to immigration policy. Yousef notes that European groups, where the concept originated, are now observing U.S. immigration crackdowns as potential models for their own countries.