Californians are considering moving abroad after becoming increasingly “fed up” with divisive politics in the United States.
A recent report suggests that those living in the Golden State in particular are considering moving abroad, or even crossing the border into Mexico.
Experts specializing in relocating expatriates abroad say they have seen a notable increase in the number of Americans exploring options to leave the country, with numbers for 2024 far exceeding those for 2023.
Henley & Partners, a firm specializing in international residency and citizenship, said about 80 percent of its American clients cite political concerns as their main reason for looking to move elsewhere.
Jen Barnett founded the company Expatsi with her husband, Brett Andrews, after spending years researching her own move abroad to Mexico.
“They want an option to escape,” Basil Mohr Elzeki told the Los Angeles Times. “Now, with the election, people have opinions on both sides and are worried.”
Elzeki, who heads the company’s North American operations, noted how heightened tensions surrounding the current election cycle have led many to explore life beyond the borders of the United States.
Similarly, Jen Barnett, founder of Expatsi, an organization that helps Americans move abroad, noted how there had been a significant increase in website traffic since the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
“The very fact that they could nominate him meant that something was irreparably broken and it was not something we could recover,” he told the Los Angeles Times, noting how their site had seen a 900 percent increase in traffic.
Barnett eventually moved to Mérida, Mexico, earlier this year, adding that the decision arose from concerns dating back to Trump’s initial rise in 2016.
Basil Mohr Elzeki’s company helps people obtain residency and citizenship in other countries through investments
Barnett’s company helps American citizens looking to move abroad and said its website traffic increased 900 percent after the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Mykel Dicus, a 54-year-old from Hayward, California, found Barnett’s site and is now planning to move to Spain in the next few years.
“I feel safer there,” said Dicus, who is a gay man. ‘It’s time to live free from American political anxiety.
“If a regime like MAGA can win these elections, I am very afraid,” Dicus added. “I just feel like it’s time to enjoy a life free from any American worries.”
Perhaps surprisingly, the desire to leave the United States is not limited to one side of the political spectrum.
Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, a migration expert at the University of Kent, said it appears that both conservatives and liberals are considering emigrating.
“We interpret saying ‘I’m going to leave’ as an expression of protest rather than a real intention to migrate,” he said.
“Anecdotally, I’ve heard more and more people talk about not only a Trump administration, but also the division in the country,” von Koppenfels said.
Mykel Dicus, a 54-year-old from Hayward, California, is planning to move to Spain in the coming years.
There appear to be strong opinions on both sides of the political divide urging people to move.
Marco Permunian, founder of Italian Citizenship Assistance, echoes these conclusions, noting that there is interest in moving abroad regardless of which party is in power.
“We came to the conclusion that there is a sense of fear across the board, and that affects people on both sides of the political spectrum,” Permunian told the Times.
Permunian noted that there was a widespread sense of unrest that was driving people on both ends of the political spectrum to seek stability elsewhere.
It means that for some Americans, political polarization has made the prospect of living abroad more attractive than staying to weather the storm at home.