AMuslim who cleans a European railway station is useful. His daughter who seeks to run the railway becomes, in the language of exclusion, evidence that the country is being taken over. That contradiction lies at the heart of the “Muslim invasion” narrative: minorities are welcomed as labour but too often treated as intruders when they claim equal standing.

Immigration presents legitimate questions about housing, public services, borders and integration. Governments must address them. But describing Muslims collectively as invaders replaces policy with religious suspicion. It blurs distinctions between citizens and foreigners, workers and refugees, peaceful believers and violent extremists. A population becomes an accusation.

Conversations with other Muslim communities repeatedly brought me back to poverty, restricted opportunity and the enduring economic inequalities associated with colonial histories.

Conversations with other Muslim communities repeatedly brought me back to poverty, restricted opportunity and the enduring economic inequalities associated with colonial histories.

Donald Trump helped normalise this language long before returning to the presidency. On December 7, 2015, his campaign demanded a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” The proposed distinction was explicitly religious. A Muslim doctor and a Muslim child were placed within the same category of exclusion, regardless of their conduct.

At the United Nations on September 23, 2025, Trump warned European leaders: “Your countries are going to hell.” He linked migration and energy policies to Western Europe’s destruction. His broad attack on migration portrayed demographic change as civilisational collapse, providing fertile ground for those who define Muslim presence itself as a threat.

The pattern has continued. Le Monde reported on October 19, 2026, that Trump and Russian officials portrayed unrest in France as evidence of immigration-driven decline, although its reporting........

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