DHS ‘remigrate’ post sparks debate over its definition and ties to extremism

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00:00A Gallup poll found 80% of Americans say the nation is greatly divided.

00:05We're so far apart not just on the issues, but even words carry different meanings between the two major political parties.

00:16The Department of Homeland Security posted a single word on X, remigrate.

00:22In a follow-up post, the agency linked to a government page promoting voluntary self-deportation.

00:28That one word, remigrate, triggered a wave of headlines questioning what DHS meant and why they used it.

00:36So what exactly does remigrate mean, and why is it drawing such strong reactions from politicians and the press?

00:44The controversy over the word remigrate has mostly played out on one side of the media landscape.

00:50The headlines you just saw, all from left-leaning outlets, frame the term as problematic due to historic ties to extremist groups.

01:00But right-leaning outlets are not covering this latest controversy, either seeing it as not newsworthy or a non-issue.

01:08And these two sentiments in the media mirror those in the political landscape.

01:13Here's how some people reacted to the remigrate post.

01:17Several users posted a Wikipedia definition of the word associating the term with a European far-right proposal of ethnic cleansing.

01:26Other online critics called the post a white supremacist euphemism and neo-Nazi ethnic cleansing propaganda.

01:33What I can see about remigration is that if you look carefully enough, you can find people using it who are on the extreme end of the spectrum.

01:45The term has been more prevalent in European politics and history.

01:49In CNN's write-up, they cite an example of its prior use by Hitler and how neo-Nazis have put remigration slogans on T-shirts.

01:59A policy director for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue says the term remigrate is closely linked to the Great Replacement Theory,

02:08which suggests there's a conspiracy to replace white European populations with non-European migrants.

02:16And extremist or white supremacist groups see remigration as a solution and a way to ethnically cleanse.

02:23You know, I want to get people to benefit the doubt and kind of figure out who said it and why.

02:27And if necessary, ask them, what did you mean by that term? And then I'll judge.

02:31DHS was asked by news outlets about the remigrate post on X.

02:36DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a media statement,

02:40Is the English language too difficult for you?

02:43With a Collins English Dictionary definition of the word, which reads,

02:48To migrate again, migrate back or return.

02:52Her statement continued,

02:53We urge all illegal aliens to remigrate and self-deport using the CBP home app.

03:00When I hear, for example, the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration use the word remigration,

03:06then I think that what they're talking about is figuring out ways to more quickly get people who are illegally in the United States

03:14and should be removed back to either their home country or wherever else we can send them.

03:19Some condemn the administration for using the term remigrate,

03:23such as this professor interviewed by Time, who said in Europe,

03:28it's an established part of the linguistic toolbox of white supremacy.

03:32But Hankinson says the word should not be banned just because of bad actors.

03:38Just, we got 350 million people and some of them are morons.

03:41We can guarantee that in a hot debate like immigration, you know, there's going to be feuding over this word

03:46and people are going to attribute meaning to it that may not have been intended by the person using the word.

03:52According to State Department sources, the use of remigration could become a new norm

03:57as the Trump administration is planning to establish an office of remigration,

04:02a new hub to facilitate the voluntary return of migrants to their country of origin or legal residents.

04:09Thank you so much for watching our news story.

04:12If you liked how we covered this topic, you might also like a podcast that I host here at SAN called Bias Breakdown.

04:19It's where we take some of the biggest news stories of the week

04:22and dig into how different news outlets cover them and identify media bias.

04:27We recently did an episode on the term gender-affirming care,

04:31exploring how it's become politically charged,

04:34often used by left-leaning media while right-leaning outlets choose alternate freezes.

04:39We break down the language and the debate surrounding it.

04:42Check it out on Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere that you listen to podcasts.

04:47And I'll see you there.

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