Border Patrol agents carry out an arrest in Charlotte, North Carolina, on November 19, 2025. RYAN MURPHY / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
The words chosen indicated the direction being taken. In a lengthy post on his social network, Truth Social, on Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, November 27, US President Donald Trump launched a strong attack on people of foreign origin living in the country.
According to Trump, most of these individuals live "on welfare" and come from "failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels." He contrasted them with "Patriotic American Citizens," a distinction that makes little sense in a country whose national narrative is shaped by contributions from diverse backgrounds worldwide. The percentage of residents born abroad in the United States has steadily risen since the 1970s and stood at 14.3% of the population in 2023, or 47.8 million people. Of those, nearly 25 million have become naturalized citizens.
According to the billionaire, only "reverse migration can fully cure this situation." Reverse migration – or remigration – is a far-right slogan in Western countries. "Remigration now," read a post from the Department of Homeland Security's X account on Thursday, November 28. On September 14, 2024, less than two months before the presidential election, Stephen Miller, now deputy chief of staff, set the tone on X: "Trump's plan to stop the invasion of small towns in America: remigration!"
