Mexico’s political elite — including its two most recent presidents — have openly invoked “reconquista,” the idea that vast swaths of the American West and Southwest can be conquered not with troops, but through mass migration and demographic takeover.
The territory in question spans California, Nevada, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming — land ceded to the United States in 1848 and now openly discussed in terms of demographic “reclamation.”
That claim is detailed in bestselling author Peter Schweizer’s new book, The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon, which compiles public statements from senior Mexican officials describing migration in explicitly nationalist terms.
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Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his successor, President Claudia Sheinbaum, have both been linked to rhetoric surrounding reconquista, according to Schweizer’s reporting. The book cites remarks and public events in which migration is framed not merely as an economic reality, but as a long-term political force.
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Schweizer writes that “many pillars of the Mexican elite embrace the notion of Reconquista—the ‘reconquest’ of the land ceded to the United States by Mexico during the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, achieved through mass migration and political action.”
One example cited in the book dates to 2017, before AMLO won the presidency. When asked by a reporter, “Do you think that we Mexicans are reconquering our lands again?” AMLO responded, “yes.”
“Yes, especially because the human rights of migrant workers must be respected,” he added, without rejecting the premise of “reconquering” U.S. territory.
AMLO’s Morena Party later consolidated power following the decline of the long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In 2024, he handed the presidency to Sheinbaum, who has also drawn attention for publicly highlighting pro-migrant messaging.
Schweizer documents Sheinbaum’s decision to play a song titled “The Hymn of the Migrant” during a 2024 news briefing. Mexico’s Parliamentary News Agency subsequently circulated commentary stating that the song represents “an act of gratitude, of recognition of what they [migrants] represent, I say, the reconquest of our territory,” according to the book.
Other senior officials have made similarly pointed remarks.
In December 2024, National Population Council (CONAPO) chief Gabriela Rodriguez declared, “We Mexicans are reclaiming our territory. I won’t be able to see it when we fully recover it. Its size has been growing for 30 years.”
In 2019, Senator Felix Salgado stated: “Mexicans are in our territory (California, Nevada, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming). We’re going to take back the territory that was stolen from us.”
Schweizer argues that such statements reflect a broader ideological current within segments of Mexico’s political class — one that views sustained migration northward not only as an economic lifeline, but as a long-term strategy with geopolitical implications.
Whether rhetorical flourish or serious political doctrine, the language has intensified scrutiny over the intersection of immigration policy, national identity, and sovereignty on both sides of the border.
