The State Department Really Doesn’t Want to Talk About the Office of Remigration | WIREDSkip to main contentMenuSECURITYPOLITICSTHE BIG STORYBUSINESSSCIENCECULTUREREVIEWSMenuAccountAccountNewslettersSecurityPoliticsThe Big StoryBusinessScienceCultureReviewsChevronMoreExpandThe Big InterviewMagazineEventsWIRED InsiderWIRED ConsultingNewslettersPodcastsVideoLivestreamsMerchSearchSearchDavid GilbertPoliticsMay 27, 2026 9:38 AMThe State Department Really Doesn’t Want to Talk About the Office of RemigrationThe office was created a year ago and seemingly named for a far-right European plan to expel minorities and immigrants from Western nations. It now works, a source says, with little to no oversight.WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 11: Office lights are illuminated in the U.S. Department of State headquarters building at dusk on July 11, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images)Photograph: J. David Ake/Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyThe State Department doesn’t seem to want anyone to know that it has an Office of Remigration.There’s no mention on the department’s social media feeds or even on the official website. There aren’t many details about when it was established, who is running the office, or what work it is carrying out. When WIRED reached out to ask if the office exists, the State Department wouldn’t share specific details about the office and its work.But the office, created a year ago and seemingly named for a racist far-right European plan to expel minorities and immigrants from Western nations, does exist. The office’s main purpose, according to one source familiar with the work, is to process payments possibly worth tens of millions of dollars to facilitate the deportations of immigrants to countries they may not even be from. All of this is happening, the source says, with little to no oversight.The Office of Remigration is at the heart of the Trump administration’s dramatically expanded efforts to urge other governments, many with track records of public corruption, human rights abuses, and human trafficking, into accepting immigrants sent from the US, who are not their own citizens. This is a key part of the administration’s broader mass deportation efforts, which have repeatedly even seen US citizens deported to other countries.“Who's to know where the money goes, because there's no real monitoring, or any kind of accountability attached to these payments,” the source familiar with the work at the Office of Remigration tells WIRED. “In fact, it was made pretty explicit to us by our leadership that they weren't interested in applying the same levels of accountability as we had traditionally applied to any kind of federal funding that we were responsible for managing to international organizations or NGOs.”In response to specific questions from WIRED, the State Department provided the following statement: “President Trump promised to reverse the Biden-era invasion of illegal aliens and once again make America a country for Americans. Remigration puts these words into action," the State Department wrote in an emailed statement not attributed to a named spokesperson. “The Office of Remigration directly addresses the top priorities of the National Security Strategy: reinstating border security as the primary element of national security and ending mass migration.”Got a Tip?Are you an government worker with insight into what's happening? We’d like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact David Gilbert at [email protected] or securely on Signal on DavidGilbert.01.Remigration is an extremist idea that has taken hold among far-right groups in many European countries in recent years. It falsely posits that Western countries can regain their former glory by deporting all immigrants, including citizens who have failed to assimilate to western values.For critics, the term is synonymous with ethnic cleansing. “The Trump Administration’s so-called ‘remigration’ efforts are part of an inhumane and coercive agenda, one that targets undocumented immigrants, most of whom have no criminal record, and coerces other countries to accept deportees through threats of tariffs, visa restrictions, and cuts to health and economic assistance,” says congresswoman Lois Frankel, a ranking member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on national security, Department of State, and related programs. “Migrants are being sent to these countries where they have no local ties and often do not speak the language.”President Donald Trump and Stephen Miller, one of his key immigration advisers, both used the term in social media posts ahead of the 2024 election. “THE TRUMP PLAN TO END THE INVASION OF SMALL TOWN AMERICA: REMIGRATION,” Miller wrote on X in September 2024, sharing a screenshot of a Trump Truth Social post that mentions the term.While Trump did not use the word again in the early days of his second term in office, in May 2025, a congressional notification from the State Department revealed that the Trump administration was planning to create an Office of Remigration within the department’s Bureau of Population, Migration, and Refugees.The congressional notification said that the Office of Remigration would be initially staffed by personnel reassigned from the bureau’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs. “Those of us in the Office of Western Hemisphere didn't know what that language meant for us, and despite all of our questions, our leadership would not or could not clarify that for us,” says the source, who worked in the State Department for years. “We didn't know what was going to happen.”The decision was praised by far-right groups and leaders in the US and Europe. Martin Sellner, an Austrian activist and former member of a neo-Nazi group, told WIRED at the time that Trump’s policy “ticks many of the boxes” when asked if he believes remigration was already in action in the US.In June and July, Trump mentioned the term remigration three times on his Truth Social platform, linking it to the work ICE was doing in relation to mass deportations. “It’s called “REMIGRATION” and, it will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote in a July 4 post on Truth Social.Meanwhile, employees were apparently trying to get the new office name changed.“Our office leadership told us they had asked to have this terminology changed many, many, many times, and that they were repeatedly told no,” says the source familiar with the office’s work. “At the time there was a thought of whether this a mistake, do they know what they're talking about, do they even understand what remigration means. But clearly they did.”By the end of 2025, staff began processing government-to-government payments for deals negotiated by the Trump administration. The money was meant to be used to ensure deportees were housed in conditions that meet basic humanitarian needs, but, according to the source, there was no oversight or transparency about how that money was used after it was sent.While the Office of Remigration is not mentioned on the State Department’s website, a document published in January shed further light on the agency’s mission.“Remigration and border security are central to our diplomatic engagements, especially to those in our hemisphere,” the State Department wrote in a strategic planning document published in January and covering 2026 to 2030. “That includes ensuring foreign countries facilitate the repatriation of their nationals who have no right to remain in the United States; negotiating arrangements with other countries to accept the transfer of asylum claimants and illegal aliens removed from American communities; and working with DHS to support voluntary remigration.”In February, the Democrat minority on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee published a report that outlined the dramatic expansion of the use of third party deportations and their cost. “The total costs of the Trump Administration’s third country deportations through January 2026 are unknown but are likely upward of $40 million,” the report states. “Much of the funds were provided as lump sum payments, often before any third country nationals arrived.”"Remigration, touted by neo-Nazis, and now our own government, is nothing more than an ethnic cleansing plan to remove migrants and people of color from the US, with no oversight and no concern for human rights,” Wendy Via, co-founder and president of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, tells WIRED.WIRED’s source said they originally joined the State Department to help refugees. But now, they were being forced to do the opposite. Many employees have left the office in recent months. Tarrajna Dorsey, had worked at the State Department for nearly seven years, left the new Office of Remigration this spring.“I spent many years aspiring to join and contribute to [the bureau of population, refugees, and migration’s] humanitarian mission to save lives, ease suffering, and offer protection to the most vulnerable among us as a key piece of U.S. foreign policy,” Dorsey wrote in an April LinkedIn post. “As much as I will miss serving alongside such passionate, resilient, and hardworking colleagues, I do not see the current work of the Office of Remigration as aligned with that mission.”Last month, Frankel introduced an amendment to the National Security and Department of State Appropriations bill to stop the use of federal funds to be used for third-country deportations. The amendment was defeated along party lines.And in recent weeks, the Trump administration has once again begun promoting the idea of remigration. On May 11, the State Department released a statement about the administration’s refusal to sign up to the UN’s Global Compact on Migration, which included the line, “Our goal is not to ‘manage’ migration, but to foster remigration.”The next day, the official X account of the White House shared a picture of Trump with the words ‘replacement migration’ crossed out and substituted with the word ‘remigration.’CommentsBack to topTriangleYou Might Also LikeHow to find us: Add WIRED.com to your preferred sources in GoogleHow the Canvas hack threatened thousands of schoolsBig Story: I've covered robots for years—this one is eerily lifelikeOrbs, saucers, and flashes on the moon—here’s what’s in the UFO filesTake our survey: What does “home” mean to you?David Gilbert is a reporter at WIRED covering disinformation, online extremism, and how these two online trends impact people’s lives across the globe, with a special focus on the 2024 US presidential election. 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The State Department allegedly maintains an Office of Remigration, an entity created approximately one year prior, which operates with minimal oversight and lacks public detail regarding its establishment, leadership, or activities. According to sources familiar with the work, the primary function of this office is to process payments, potentially amounting to tens of millions of dollars, designed to facilitate the deportation of immigrants to nations where they do not have established ties. This operation is central to the Trump administration’s expanded efforts to pressure other governments, particularly those with histories of human rights abuses, into accepting deportees originating from the United States. This process is integrated into broader mass deportation strategies, which have included the deportation of U.S. citizens to various countries.

The office is positioned at the core of the administration's objectives, which the State Department publicly framed as enacting the promises of the Trump administration regarding border security and ending mass migration. The State Department asserted that the Office of Remigration directly addresses the priorities set forth in the National Security Strategy by emphasizing the reinstatement of border security as the foremost element of national security and the cessation of mass migration. However, the lack of transparency surrounding these financial flows is a significant point of contention, as sources indicate there is no real monitoring or accountability attached to the payments made, despite the office managing these funds.

Critics view the concept of remigration as an extremist and coercive agenda, often associated with far-right European ideas concerning the expulsion of minorities. Some commentators equate these efforts with ethnic cleansing, arguing that the policies target undocumented immigrants, many of whom lack criminal records, and coerce international partners through threats involving tariffs, visa restrictions, and cuts to economic or health assistance. This perspective is echoed by some observers who note that these efforts are consistent with the rhetoric promoted by figures such as Donald Trump and Stephen Miller regarding mass deportations.

The institutional creation of the Office of Remigration, which was announced in a congressional notification in May 2025, involved personnel reassigned from the Bureau of Population, Migration, and Refugees' Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs. While some former employees expressed a divergence from the office's mandate, citing a history rooted in humanitarian missions, the leadership reportedly resisted changes to the terminology used for the office. By the end of 2025, staff began processing government-to-government payments intended to ensure deportees were housed according to basic humanitarian standards; however, this process also lacked transparency regarding how the money was ultimately utilized.

Furthermore, strategic planning documents from the State Department indicate that remigration is considered central to diplomatic engagements concerning the hemisphere. These plans involve ensuring foreign nations facilitate the repatriation of their nationals without U.S. citizenship, negotiating arrangements for third countries to accept asylum claimants and illegal aliens removed from American communities, and collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security to support voluntary remigration. Financial analyses suggest the costs associated with these third-country deportations are substantial, with estimates indicating total costs potentially exceeding forty million dollars through January 2026, often involving lump-sum payments issued prior to the arrival of the individuals being relocated. The administration’s stance manifested further when it declined to sign up for the UN’s Global Compact on Migration, instead prioritizing the goal of fostering remigration over migration management.