Overview
- On Thursday, Gere and the Hertie School unveiled the Joint Initiative on Migration in Berlin to promote a shift from hostility-based policy to one that treats migration as an opportunity for source and destination societies.
- At the launch Gere said he was “deeply ashamed” of U.S. government language toward migrants, criticized officials for calling people “aliens,” and earlier this week called President Donald Trump a “maniac” in remarks at the Oslo Freedom Forum.
- The initiative will focus on migration flows from Africa to Europe and aims to generate new perspectives, politics and policies that prioritize development, integration and safer pathways rather than solely reducing arrivals.
- Reaction split quickly along partisan lines, with conservative outlets and commentators disputing Gere’s claim that the term “alien” is a new Trump-era usage and noting the word’s long legal history in U.S. law, while social media critics attacked Gere personally.
- Coverage ties Gere’s remarks to his long record of refugee work, including boarding the Open Arms rescue ship in 2019, and suggests the launch could sharpen public debate in Europe and the U.S. over rhetoric, policy and migration reform efforts.