Indians dream of life in US, but why are Americans fleeing the country?

An Indian man enters America with dreams. He burns the midnight oil and expects success and wealth. It is said that the US, the land of the free and the home of the brave, never disappoints the meritorious. This is the American dream that many Indians chase, even risking their lives by taking the illegal ‘dunki route’ to enter the US. But Americans are leaving the US, amid political division and economic hardship. The chatter of leaving the US has grown since Donald Trump won the presidential election, widening the cracks.
This has also led to a rise in nomad visas after US election results were announced and Trump swept it. People are allowed to work remotely from a foreign country for an extended period of time on these visas.
Google searches by Americans for how to move to Europe, Canada, and Mexico increased manifold after Trump’s victory.
That’s also because a section of Americans who see themselves as liberal, do not feel they can live on in the US under Trump’s regime. They see Trump, who has vowed to crack down on immigration and has an anti-abortion stance, as a divisive figure.
Though there is no concrete data, several reports, including in The New York Times and USA Today, and online discussions reveal this trend.
A similar trend was also seen in 2016 when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the President.
The trend has a name — AmerExit.
“I would say at least 50% of our friends are considering moving, with politics at least a factor for most,” Justin Knepper, a 48-year old, who moved from California to Portugal in the last election, told USA Today about the current scenario.
Even many expats are looking to move to a country “that aligns with their values, ranging from universal health care to fleeing the polarised political landscape of the United States”, reports USA Today.
A Trump presidency has brought a sense of gloom and despair to many who think they will be hit directly by his policies.
“I would challenge you to find somebody who’s as depressed and dark and scared as I am,” Deirdre Roney told USA Today months before the US elections.
Deirdre and her husband obtained dual citizenship of the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda and left.
Dee Segler left the US just a day before the US Presidential election, but she had planned it for a long time.
It was not the immediate elections that made her leave suddenly, it was the overall political climate in the US.
A lay-off, no promotions and difficulty making ends meet added to the reasons to say goodbye to the US. For her, it was her disillusionment with corporate America.
People are also taking to social media to share that they intend to leave the US. There is a Reddit handle called r/AmerExit.
This handle saw a flood of posts after Trump won the recent US elections. People came up with job opportunity suggestions in Canada and Finland.
They also discussed countries with better rights for transgenders and homosexuals.
The exit plans are also being discussed on X.
“I fear for my lifeâ€æ. My husband and I have voted in every election for the last 30 years. But this is the last straw! We have decided to pack our bags and leave! We love America, but we can’t live in a country run by a racist dictator like Donald Trump. Goodbye, America,” wrote an X user.
Cindy Sheahan also moved to Sicily this October due to the “increasingly polarised and divisive climate in the US”.
When asked about her plan to return, she said it was impossible.
“Another Trump term is non-negotiable for me,” she told USA Today.
“They find that Europe offers a political climate that feels less changed, less divided and generally more tolerant,” Cepee Tabibian, told the US-based media outlet.
Others were attracted to Europe for its safety, after the US ranked 131 out of 162 in the 2024 Global Peace Index.
Freya Wilson left Utah with her partner. Wilson is a transgender who left the US after hearing about Project 2025 and getting scared about its proposal against gender-change surgeries, reports The New York Times.
“My partner and I were scared,” she said.
The couple found a teaching job before elections and decided to leave.
Sara Dawn O’Dell, a 42-year-old woman moved from Olympia, Washington, to Canada’s British Columbia under the fear of the abortion ban, reported the NYT.
David Lesperance, a Canadian tax and immigration adviser who helps people with securing dual citizenship told the NYT that most of his US clients now had concerns regarding “political polarisation and deadlock, antisemitism, gun violence, threats to LGBTQ+ rights, fear of rule by ‘the other party’ and by a Trump administration”.
“What’s different today is people are acting on it,” Lesperance said. “They sense the danger is real.”
Anecdotal evidence also suggests that the people looking to or moving out of the US has a sizeable number of women.
That many Americans want to leave the US is also reflected in their Google search after Trump won the elections.
The Google search for ‘moving to Canada’, ‘moving to New Zealand from the US’ and ‘moving to Germany’ and other countries started trending.
Many also searched for how to move to Europe and Portugal.
People living in Europe also responded to the Americans’ plan on social media.
“I am getting a little annoyed by these people who want to leave the U.S. because Trump got elected. Well, news flash . You need a proper visa in Europe, American or not. It can take a long time if you want to stay. So good luck. Things have changed,” wrote an X user.
“Time to leave the US? It seems soâ€æ Surge in Americans looking over Europe as a new home,” wrote another user on X.
The recent presidential election result and what a new Trump regime would bring has added to the economic reasons why people are fleeing or planning to leave the US. What is interesting is that Americans are leaving the US in search of better opportunities and political climate elsewhere, even as Indians risk it all pursuing the American dream.