What is remigration, the far-right fringe idea going mainstream?

Last week, Republican Ohio gubernatorial hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy challenged different Republicans implicit their thought that ancestry oregon practice is what makes idiosyncratic genuinely American.

“The thought that a ‘heritage American’ is much American than different American is un-American astatine its core,” Ramaswamy, who was calved to Indian migrant parents, said during Turning Point USA’s annual conference.

Remigration — erstwhile a fringe far-right conception advocating the deportation of taste minorities — is present gaining traction successful United States Republican circles arsenic President Donald Trump’s 2nd word enters the last weeks of its archetypal year.

Earlier this year, reports said that the US State Department was considering creating a section of remigration. A fewer months later, the Department of Homeland Security posted successful favour of remigration online.

But it is not conscionable American far-right figures evoking the thought of remigration; European far-right leaders are besides joining in.

Here is simply a person look astatine what remigration means and what its origins are.

What is remigration?

Broadly, remigration refers to erstwhile an migrant voluntarily returns to their state of origin.

However, successful the discourse of far-right movements, remigration is simply a method of taste cleansing.

For achromatic ethnonationalists, remigration is simply a process done which each non-white radical are forcibly removed from traditionally achromatic countries.

What are the origins of remigration?

Ideas of remigration hint backmost to Nazi Germany successful the precocious 1930s. The Nazis attempted to “remigrate” the Jews successful Germany to Madagascar.

But the conception got upwind done the enactment of Renaud Camus, a French novelist who devised the Great Replacement conspiracy mentation successful his 2011 book, Le Grand Remplacement.

His wide debunked achromatic nationalist mentation suggests that elites are replacing achromatic Christians successful the West with non-white, chiefly Muslim, radical done wide migration and demographic changes. Camus calls this “genocide by substitution”.

Far-right nationalists successful Europe and beyond person borrowed ideas from this theory.

Heidi Beirich, an adept connected the American and European far-right movements, told Al Jazeera that the word remigration is “relatively new” successful far-right circles.

Beirich said that the conception was popularised by Martin Sellner.

Sellner, 36, is the person of Austria’s ultranationalist Identitarian Movement, a far‑right radical known for anti-immigration activism and promoting ethnonationalist ideology. Ethnonationalists specify the federation chiefly by shared ethnicity, ancestry, civilization and heritage.

“Remigration advocates the forced removal of non-white radical from what Sellner and others with his beliefs presumption arsenic historically achromatic countries, fundamentally Europe, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand,” Beirich explained.

Beirich said remigration successful essence, is simply a “policy solution to the achromatic supremacist ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory”.

Do antithetic groups person antithetic ideas?

There are strands of nationalists beyond ethnonationalism.

Civic nationalists, who besides called wide nationalists oregon law nationalists, specify the federation by shared governmental values, laws and institutions, careless of ethnicity. They judge that a idiosyncratic belongs to a state if they clasp ineligible citizenship and are committed to the state’s principles.

While civic nationalists are little enthusiastic astir remigration than ethnonationalists, to them, remigration means voluntary instrumentality migration. This could mean policies oregon incentives for immigrants to instrumentality to their state of root if they choose, often for economic, household oregon taste reasons.

Why is the thought of remigration becoming mainstream?

Beirich said that Sellner has been pushing this thought with far-right parties successful Europe for the past 2 years.

“The astounding happening is not that a xenophobic governmental enactment similar AfD successful Germany would beryllium unfastened to this, but alternatively that a achromatic supremacist argumentation presumption is present being pushed by the US government.”

The AfD is simply a far-right enactment called Alternative for Germany, which is designated an “extremist” organisation successful the country.

In May 2025, Axios reported, quoting an unnamed State Department official, that the section is readying to make an “Office of Remigration”.

Then, successful an X station connected October 14, the Department of Homeland Security wrote “remigrate,” adding a nexus to its mobile application, which allows US immigrants to self-deport.

Where is the remigration question picking up?

The thought of remigration has been revived by far-right leaders successful Europe arsenic well.

This includes Herbert Kickl, the person of Austria’s far-right anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO).

“As People’s Chancellor, I volition initiate the remigration of each those who trample connected our close to hospitality,” Kickl said successful the FPO manifesto up of the predetermination successful September 2024.

While FPO won astir seats successful the election, different parties — the blimpish People’s Party (OVP), the Social Democrats (SPO) and the wide NEOS — came unneurotic to signifier a ruling conjugation nether an aboriginal 2025 woody which sidelined the FPO.

Across the borderline successful Germany, Alice Weidel, the person of the AfD, referred to “remigration” portion supporting the closure of the country’s borders to caller immigrants astatine a enactment league successful January.

In May 2025, a league called the Remigration Summit was held successful Italy. It was attended by far-right activists from crossed Europe. InfoMigrants, a website which covers migration issues successful Europe, estimated that 400 right-wing activists attended the summit.

But Beirich said that remigration, if implemented arsenic a policy, would successful effect beryllium an “attempt to make all-white countries done taste cleansing”.