The US embassy in Mexico is facing widespread online outrage over an AI-generated video encouraging migrants to “voluntarily leave the country.”
A video posted by the U.S. Embassy earlier this week showed a group of tattooed men wearing black hats performing a type of traditional Mexican ballad known as a corrido.
The AI-generated lyrics reportedly emphasized messages of national pride and independence. guardian. “In the homeland the corridors ring out loud. Return to your roots. You don’t have to go far to move forward. Listen to you. The power of Mexico is within you,” sings an AI performer.
These posts include a direct link to CBP Home, a government website designed to assist immigrants currently in the United States with the process of returning to their countries of origin.
The video not only immediately made headlines in Mexico’s major news outlets for “manipulative use of cultural heritage,” but also took the internet by storm.
Users on social platforms have condemned the use of popular music genres like corridos to convey messages of deterrence and repatriation.
“Retirees and digital nomads can spend their money in their home country,” one user wrote on Instagram, referring to the large number of U.S. citizens living in Mexico.
Another person commented on X: “What a pathetic commercial.”
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem launched a number of video ads last year targeting immigrants, urging them to stay home or leave voluntarily.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denounced the videos as “discriminatory” while urging Mexico’s Congress to pass a law banning such manipulative ads.
“We’re going to change the law that prohibits foreign governments from carrying out political and ideological propaganda in our country,” Scheinbaum said.
