The Fed Up Americans Leaving the Country

"Donald Trump's reëlection made many Americans reconsider whether they wanted to continue living here. But what does it actually take to leave? Plus: Atossa Araxia AbrahamianA writer covering citizenship and immigration. Every election cycle, Americans, from both parties, proclaim that they will leave the country if their preferred candidate doesn't win. Few follow through. Anyone who's ever moved knows that it's hard enough to change apartments, let alone settle in a new country."

"Late last year, after Donald Trump claimed victory again, I started hearing from lawyers and immigration consultants whom I'd met while reporting my 2015 book on the global market for citizenship. Back then, the people who went out of their way to obtain a second passport were mainly millionaires from Russia, China, and the Middle East who couldn't travel or transact as freely as they'd have liked with their original citizenship. Now, my sources told me, American clients outnumbered the others by orders of magnitude."

"The Americans' motivations varied, but it nearly always had something to do with Trump. And that wasn't all. They were not just getting a "Plan B passport" in case they decided to go abroad. Some were packing up and moving for good. It's hard to quantify this trend because not all countries publish thorough data. Even the U.S. State Department admits that its count of American expats (at least six million) is fuzzy. Still, there's evidence that interest in expatriation is on the rise."

Many Americans began pursuing second passports or emigrating after Donald Trump's reelection. Historically, second-passport seekers were mainly wealthy individuals from Russia, China, and the Middle East who wanted freer travel and transactions. Recently, American clients have outnumbered those others. Motivations frequently involved concerns about Trump, and some Americans were relocating permanently rather than seeking only a Plan B. Quantifying the trend is difficult because data are incomplete; the U.S. State Department's expat count (at least six million) is imprecise. Ireland received over 26,000 passport applications from Americans in early 2025, moves to Ireland nearly doubled, and U.K., German, and Austrian claims also rose.

Read at The New Yorker