Californians reportedly preparing to flee country pending election results

A caller study highlighted a increasing number of Americans, and peculiarly Californians, who are readying to move overseas because they are “fed up” pinch nan divisiveness of U.S. politics.

The Los Angeles Times spoke to world migration experts who’ve documented a spike successful nan number of Americans seeking to move retired of nan state since 2020, pinch galore of them being California residents. 

The number of requests this election year has already exceeded past year, world patient Henley & Partners said. The advisor institution helps clients get residency and citizenship successful different countries and said that astir 80% of their U.S. clients want to time off nan state because of governmental issues.

“They want an action to escape,” Basil Mohr Elzeki, who leads nan North American operations for Henley & Partners told nan L.A. Times. “Now pinch nan election, group person opinions connected some ends, and they’re worried.”

Jen Barnett, laminitis of Expatsi, different institution that helps U.S. citizens looking to move abroad, said her website’s postulation spiked 900% aft nan first statesmanlike statement betwixt President Biden and erstwhile President Trump. She said that postulation climbed again successful nan last weeks of 2024 race.

Barnett and her hubby moved to Mexico earlier this twelvemonth aft spending years looking for location extracurricular nan U.S. to unrecorded pursuing Trump winning nan 2016 Republican nomination.

Jen Barnett, laminitis of Expatsi, a institution that helps U.S. citizens looking to move abroad, said her website’s postulation spiked 900% aft nan first statesmanlike statement betwixt President Biden and erstwhile President Trump. Jen Barnett/Linkedin

“Just that he could beryllium nominated to maine meant that thing was irreparably broken, and it wasn’t thing we could get back,” she told nan Times.

Mykel Dicus, 54, from Hayward, California, said successful nan study that he’s pursuing moving to Spain successful nan adjacent 3 years because he feels safer there, and he’s acrophobic of different Trump presidency.

“If a authorities for illustration MAGA should triumph this election, I’m very scared,” Dicus said. “I conscionable consciousness for illustration it’s clip to bask a life that’s free from immoderate American worry.”

It’s not conscionable liberals looking to fly nan country, according to experts successful nan report.

Some Americans are considering leaving nan state owed to fears regarding erstwhile President Trump’s 2nd presidency. Getty Images

“Anecdotally, I’ve heard much and much folks talking not conscionable astir a Trump administration, but astir nan divisiveness successful nan country,” Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, a migration clever clever astatine nan University of Kent successful Brussels, told nan Times.

Another migration expert, Marco Permunian, laminitis of Italian Citizenship Assistance, said his institution saw a surge of Americans looking to unrecorded overseas aft nan 2016 predetermination but that number continued to turn during nan Biden administration. 

“We came to nan conclusion location is a consciousness of fear in general, and that affects group from some sides of nan governmental spectrum,” Permunian told nan paper.