US Defence Secretary condemns European migration as 'invasion' during D-Day address
The US defence secretary’s remarks in Normandy align with broader Washington policy shifts, as official data shows UK Channel crossings falling 38 per cent year-on-year.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has delivered a sharp critique of European migration policy during a speech in Normandy, describing the arrival of migrants on European shores as an "invasion" driven by dangerous ideologies. Speaking on the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings, Hegseth questioned when European capitals would act against what he termed a threat to the continent’s stability.
Hegseth stated that beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria were being stormed by different dangerous ideologies, contrasting the current situation with the allied liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944. He argued that European leaders had grown too comfortable with their freedoms, warning that the sacrifices made by war fighters must be maintained by the current generation or risk being rendered temporary.
The comments reinforce the Trump administration’s hardline approach to immigration, which was further detailed in a National Security Strategy released in December. That document warned that Europe could be "unrecognisable in 20 years or less" due to uncontrolled migration, asserting that civilisational erasure eclipses current economic concerns. This rhetoric follows similar criticism from US Vice-President JD Vance, who linked the fatal stabbing of British student Henry Nowak to a "mass invasion of migrants".
Downing Street responded to Vance’s remarks by criticising attempts to interfere in domestic democracy, noting that the Nowak family did not wish for his death to be used to create division. The Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed that the perpetrator, Vickrum Digwa, was born British. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously described President Donald Trump’s comments on European migration as "not right", while acknowledging the challenge of tackling illegal crossings.
Official data indicates that sea arrivals to the UK, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus totalled 169,341 between April 2025 and March 2026. Crossings to the UK accounted for approximately 23 per cent of this figure. Between 1 January and 3 June 2026, 9,142 people crossed the English Channel to the UK, representing a 38 per cent decrease compared to the same period the previous year. Domestically, the administration has prioritised enforcement, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents making thousands of arrests since January 2025.
