President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on the immigration policies in the US in his Thanksgiving message. Among the explosive announcements was a call for ‘reverse migration’ and a decision to ‘permanently pause’ migration from third world nations.
“Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” Trump had said. The lengthy Truth Social post came in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard soldiers by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a person of Afghani origin, in Washington DC.
Also Read | Will Indians be affected by Trump admin's new green card crackdown? What we know
Hours after Trump's post, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees agencies in charge of US immigration services and enforcement, posted about ‘remigration’.
“The stakes have never been higher, and the goal has never been more clear: Remigration now,” they wrote on X.
What is ‘remigration’ and ‘reverse migration’?
This is not the first time the DHS has used the term ‘remigration’. A post was made in October as well, sparking backlash online, since many drew comparisons to Europe's far right, as per CNN.
{{/usCountry}}This is not the first time the DHS has used the term ‘remigration’. A post was made in October as well, sparking backlash online, since many drew comparisons to Europe's far right, as per CNN.
{{/usCountry}}Remigration is the idea that one should send people ‘who don’t belong in this country’ to another place, CNN reported extremism expert Cynthia Miller-Idriss say. She noted that the concept has found a champion in the new far-right conspiracy – The Great Replacement Theory.
As per Miller-Idriss the far-right is of the opinion that to retain a White majority population in any state or to restore it, one must get rid of people of color. This can be done through remigration or ‘violently’, CNN reported her say.
In migration studies, the term refers to the voluntary return of migrants and foreigners to their home countries. Meanwhile the Bahamas consulate in New York describes it as “the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country of which they are not a national.” It notes, “The removal is the process of the U.S. government determining that an alien – that is, a non-U.S. citizen, whether in the U.S. illegally or with a green card – must be removed from the United States.”
Trump's call for ‘reverse migration’ is not too different. Reverse migration could refer to the ‘systematic act or process of relocation and movement of migrants or refugees, returnees who decided to go back or are being forced back to the initial place of departure’, as per Handbook of Migration Ethics.
Reactions to ‘reverse migration’, ‘remigration’ calls
These calls from the POTUS and the federal agency have prompted fears.
One person shared a Wikipedia snippet on ‘remigration’.
Another remarked, “Trump’s ‘Remigration’ Plan Is as Anti-American as It Gets.” Yet another commented, "Trump and Miller speak of remigration. Now it’s official anti-American policy."