IGN interviewed Nick Lowe about the future direction of Marvel’s X-titles.  When choosing the new branding connecting their story lines they were very particular on the political and cultural implication of their final choice:

IGN Comics: The typical application of the phrase “Manifest Destiny” is in regards to the expansion of the United States in the 19th century. How much does that apply here? Are we looking at opponents of the X-Men trying to expand the domain of the mutant race?

Lowe: The main application was to get the feeling of the move out West. It was a term made popular by politicians in league with President Andrew Jackson about the right of Americans to move West. But it’s not a popular phrase with a lot of Americans, mainly Native Americans, because the move stole their land and nearly led to the genocide of Native Americans. That connotation is not lost on us. It plays well on the metaphors intrinsic to the X-Men.