AI-generated ‘self deportation’ video by US embassy in Mexico triggers backlash

The US embassy in Mexico has faced widespread outrage online over AI-generated video, encouraging migrants to “self-deport.”

The video posted earlier this week by the US embassy featured a group of men in black caps and tattoos performing a kind of traditional Mexican ballad known as corrido.

The AI-generated lyrics emphasized a message of national pride and self-reliance, as reported by the Guardian. “The corrido rings out loud in your homeland; return to your roots. You don’t need to go far to get ahead. Listen to what you say: Mexican power lies within you.” the AI performer sings.

The posts include a direct link to CBP Home, a government website designed to assist migrants currently in the U.S. with the process of returning to their countries of origin.

The video quickly not only made headlines across major Mexican news outlets, framing it as “manipulative use of cultural heritage” but also took the internet by storm.

Users on social platforms have condemned the use of a beloved musical genre like the corrido to deliver a message of deterrence and repatriation.

One user wrote on Instagram, ““Your retirees and digital nomads can spend their money in their home country,” said a user on Instagram, referring to the large population of US citizens in Mexico.

Another one commented on X, ““What a pathetic commercial.”

Last year, Kristi Noem, former US secretary of homeland security, launched a number of video ads targeting migrants and urging them to either stay at home or self-deport.

The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, slammed these videos as “discriminatory” while urging the Mexican Congress to pass a law banning such manipulative ads.

“We are going to change the law to prohibit foreign governments from carrying out political and ideological propaganda in our country,” Sheinbaum said.