For several months, the White House and various federal agencies have provoked widespread condemnation from critics due to their social media communications promoting President Trump’s agenda. Some of these posts utilize humor or internet memes. Others employ phrasing or visuals perceived as coded racist messages. This week, the Department of Homeland Security faced significant disapproval for a post that consisted of a single word: .
This particular term, which has found favor among Trump’s MAGA loyalists, carries a controversial past in Europe, where it is linked to white nationalism and has been regarded as a veiled reference to ethnic cleansing.
The concise message on X was accompanied by a link to a government document advocating for voluntary self-deportation.
The Genesis of “Remigration”
The word “remigration” has historically been used in Europe to denote the large-scale expulsion of non-white immigrants. It has been adopted by right-wing politicians such as Herbert Kickl of Austria and Alice Weidel of Germany’s populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The term has also been popularized by the Austrian, millennial far-right social media figure Martin Sellner.
“In Europe, it constitutes an established element of the white supremacy lexicon,” Nicholas J. Cull, a professor of communication at the University of Southern California, informed TIME.
The employment of this term in Germany and Austria has become a hallmark of recent anti-immigration efforts. Last year, widespread demonstrations across Germany were triggered by revelations that AfD party members and Austrian far-right individuals were reportedly planning to deport thousands of migrants, leading to extensive pro-democracy protests.
When solicited for comment regarding its Tuesday post, Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokesperson, responded via email, stating, “Is the English language too challenging for you?” This message was followed by a Collins English Dictionary definition of the word “remigrate.”
The DHS post appears to reference the State Department’s initiative to establish an “Office of Remigration,” plans for which were unveiled in May through a document proposing an agency overhaul that would eliminate a range of programs and reduce domestic staff. The specifics of this plan are detailed in a 136-page document that the State Department forwarded to six Congressional Committees. The document asserts that the Office of Remigration will “proactively assist migrants in voluntarily returning to their country of origin or legal status.”
This year, Trump has embraced this term, using it multiple times across social media platforms. “America was invaded and occupied. I am reversing the Invasion. It’s called Remigration,” he declared in a Truth Social post from June.
“Everyone can grasp the meaning of this,” Cull remarked concerning the DHS post. “It represents a clear intensification in the rhetoric surrounding immigration matters.”
A Pattern of Similar Language
The department’s use of this word and its contentious implications aligns with a recurring pattern of posts by Trump and Administration officials that seem to express disapproval of certain groups residing in the U.S. and actively promote Trump’s widespread deportation campaign.
In August, the Administration faced accusations of endorsing white supremacists in a DHS post recruiting for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The department’s caption, “which way, American man?” was argued to be a reference to *Which Way, Western Man*, a 1978 book by white supremacist William Gayley Simpson, who was a supporter of Hitler.
In other posts, the agency features an older Morgan Weistling painting of a white family with the caption, “remember your homeland’s heritage,” while misattributing the artwork.
Additional posts encourage Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) applicants to “defend your culture!” One shows a photograph of the Capitol building from approximately 1943 with the caption, “we can return.”
Also this week, the U.S. Border Patrol published, and subsequently removed, an Instagram reel this week that contained an antisemitic slur from the Michael Jackson song “They Don’t Care About Us,” which drew criticism from Jewish groups upon its release in 1995, prompting Jackson to modify the song.
“Jew me, sue me, Everybody, do me, Kick me, k*ke me, Don’t you black or white me,” the lyrics appeared in the video; unlike certain streaming services that blur offensive language, the agency did not edit out these phrases.
“This is, unfortunately, indicative of how extreme politics functions—it seeks to employ ordinary expressions to describe horrific and morally repugnant concepts,” Cull stated.
