While framed by its advocates as a form of immigration control, remigration is a white supremacist policy concept that calls for the forced removal of immigrants, refugees, and their descendants — including legal residents and citizens — based on race, ethnicity, culture, being perceived as “non-white,” or a failure to “assimilate.”
Once relegated to neo-Nazi and white supremacist circles, remigration has moved into mainstream far-right politics in Europe and, by 2025, into official rhetoric and policy planning in the United States.
Why Remigration Matters
Remigration is not standard immigration policy. It represents:
- The translation of white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideology into governance.
- The normalization of ethnic cleansing rhetoric.
- A convergence between extremist movements and state power.
As documented by GPAHE, remigration demonstrates how rhetoric once confined to neo-Nazi subcultures has been rebranded, normalized, and adopted by authoritarian movements, governments, and the Trump administration — with violent consequences.
Remigration Addressed The “Great Replacement” Conspiracy
Remigration is the policy solution to the white supremacist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, which falsely claims that white populations are being intentionally replaced by non-white migrants and refugees.
Key concepts include:
- Immigration represents an existential threat to “Western Civilization.”
- Demographic change is deliberate and coordinated.
- The only solution is demographic reversal.
The theory is deeply antisemitic, frequently blaming Jews for orchestrating demographic change, and has been repeatedly cited by mass-casualty attackers targeting Muslims, Black people, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and Jews.
Martin Sellner: From Neo-Nazi Activist to Policy Influencer
The modern remigration framework was popularized by Martin Sellner, an Austrian extremist who rebranded himself as an “Identitarian” after years of neo-Nazi activity.
Martin Sellner Facts:
- Was a member of the neo-Nazi group Stolz und Frei
- Was mentored by Gottfried Küssel, twice imprisoned for Nazi revisionism
- Admitted to placing a swastika sticker on a synagogue in Austria
- Became the de-facto leader of the Identitarian Movement, a transnational white nationalist network
Sellner describes remigration as a civilizational project designed to make Western countries “European again.” Under his leadership, Identitarian groups embraced professional media strategies, targeting youth through slick videos, online propaganda, and campaigns aimed at pushing these racist ideas into mainstream debate.
Despite bans and restrictions of Identitarian groups across Europe, Sellner has continued to act as a bridge between European and American white nationalist movements, openly celebrating the current adoption of remigration language by U.S. political figures.
AfD and the European Normalization of Remigration
Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) political party has played a central role in mainstreaming remigration into European politics.
- AfD politicians, aides, and neo-Nazi groups attended a November 2023 secret meeting in Potsdam, where Sellner outlined his remigration proposal.
- In January 2025, party leader Alice Weidel publicly embraced the term, declaring that if the policy is called remigration, “then that’s what it’s going to be.”
- In February 2025, Vice President JD Vance met with the AfD leader, Alice Weidel. Vance has not been shy about signaling support for the party. He took to the stage at the Munich Security Conference to lambaste what he saw as the “retreat” of free speech in Europe and urged German politicians to work with the AfD.
- In May 2025, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), formally designated , AfD is designated a right-wing extremist organization.
- AfD has cultivated growing ties with U.S. conservative and MAGA-aligned actors, positioning itself as a transatlantic partner.
From European Extremism to Trump’s America
The adoption of remigration by Donald Trump marked a turning point.
- Trump publicly used the term during the 2024 presidential campaign, prompting celebration among neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
- After Trump’s inauguration in 2025, mass deportation policies closely mirrored Sellner’s remigration framework.
Trump Administration Embraces Remigration:
- The Department of Homeland Security declared on social media: “Remigration now.”
- The State Department has proposed establishing an “Office of Remigration.”
- Asylum processing was halted, visas frozen for nationals of dozens of countries, and deportations expanded nationwide.
- Proving the racism behind Trump’s immigration policies, the administration, while banning most others, allowed white South African Afrikaners refugee status under claims of “white genocide,” a narrative closely aligned with replacement theory.
Enforcement, Profit, and State Violence
Remigration has been implemented through militarized immigration enforcement, including:
- Nationwide ICE violent raids.
- Expanded detention and deportations to dangerous foreign countries with no regard for human rights or international law.
- Racial profiling.
These policies have coincided with:
- Dozens of deaths in ICE custody.
- Detention of U.S. citizens.
- Violence by ICE agents including shootings and the killing of an American citizen, Rachel Good.
- Violent suppression of protests.
- A rapidly expanding detention industry dominated by private prison contractors.
Extremist Coded Language
Federal agencies have adopted language long associated with white nationalist movements, including phrases such as:
- “We’ll have our home again”
- “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage”
These phrases are amplified by groups such as the white supremacists Proud Boys when used by government accounts. This language functions as ideological signaling, offering plausible deniability while reassuring extremist audiences that their worldview has entered government and that it is accepted.
Remigration illustrates how concepts rooted in neo-Nazi ideology have been repackaged as governance, moving from extremist networks into the language of political parties, state institutions, and federal policy. Its adoption across Europe and the United States underscores a broader convergence between far-right movements and government power, where extremist narratives inform enforcement strategies with tangible human costs. As remigration is embraced into official discourse, it marks the point at which white supremacist ideology is no longer adjacent to power, but exercised through it.
Download our Remigration fact sheet here.
