JAKARTA - The United States rejected the International Migration Review Forum’s May 8 progress declaration, saying it would not support the UN migration text and did not take part in the May 5-8 forum in New York. The State Department announced the position in a May 11 release.
Washington said it opposed what it called UN efforts to “advocate and facilitate replacement immigration” in the United States and the wider West. The statement also said the Trump administration would pursue “remigration,” a term it used for policies aimed at returning migrants to their countries of origin.
“There was nothing “safe,” “orderly,” or “regular” about any of this. And the costs were borne primarily by working Americans forced to compete for scarce jobs, housing, and social services. The UN has little to say about them,” the announcement reads.
The declaration belongs to the review process for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The compact is not legally binding, but the 2026 declaration sets out shared policy language for governments on labour migration, migrant protection, border management, return and reintegration.
The latest public draft of the declaration, released on April 16, called on states to stop recruiters and employers from shifting recruitment fees to migrant workers. It also urged lower remittance costs, safer transfer channels and better access to formal remittance services.
That matters in Asia, where several labour-sending countries operate large overseas-worker systems tied to the same issues. The Philippines recorded 2.15 million land-based worker deployments in 2025, including 397,892 to the UAE, 386,699 to Saudi Arabia, 221,492 to Singapore and 202,415 to Hong Kong. Philippine cash remittances from the United States reached $14.15 billion in 2025, making it the largest listed country source in BSP data.
The declaration still moved forward through the UN process on May 8.
