The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week’s issue is written by Isabella Kwai, a reporter with the Australia bureau.

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The premise of “Go Back to Where You Came From,” an Australian reality show that debuted in 2011, is instantly intriguing: Six Australians with strong opinions on immigration retrace the journeys of recent refugees. The purpose, the show’s creators said, was to tackle the heated issue of refugee policy and show a more human side to the issue. Last year’s season even sent an anti-immigration senator to Syria.

I thought of the show this week after President Trump invoked the racist trope that gave it its name, telling four nonwhite American congresswomen on Twitter to “go back” to where they had come from.

His insult ignited a conversation about racism and American identity. More than 4,800 people wrote to The New York Times about their own experiences with the phrase. But it also touched a nerve for many in Australia.