In the past year, more United States citizens have expressed an increased interest in emigrating out of America under the Trump administration.
Following the announcement of President Donald Trump’s electoral win in 2024, Google searches for migration and relocation in America increased by more than 1000%.
Christina Kiel, a Tulane University political science professor, explained potential reasons for the rise in interest of Americans leaving the country.
“People on social media might say, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t agree with the government. Maybe it’s time to leave.’ Or maybe [there are] more prominent cases like certain researchers … who left because they felt that the political environment or the academic environment wasn’t conducive to their work,” Kiel said.
A survey of over 2,000 people showed 40% of Americans have considered moving abroad, with a 4% increase directly after the 2024 presidential election. Over half of Millennials and Generation Z surveyed said they want to move abroad, with one in five seriously considering it.
The primary reasons for emigration – moving out of America – were a lower cost of living abroad and dissatisfaction with the current political leadership, the latter showing a 6% increase since November 2024.
Americans are turning to countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom for citizenship. Canada’s immigration department said it noticed a spike in immigration interest since Trump’s election, according to immigration department spokesperson Julie Lafortune in an article for POLITICO.
A Canadian law firm created a website titled “Trumpugees.ca” targeted to Americans interested in the immigration process. Its homepage states, “Tired of Trump? Thinking about Canada? We can help.”
Applications for permanent residency in Canada began to increase in November 2024 after the election results were released, followed by a dip in authorizations and visas issued for permanent residents. However, there was no significant increase in applications or authorizations compared to previous years.
The U.K. saw a more pronounced jump in citizenship interest.
The first quarter of 2025 showed a 12% increase in Americans applying for U.K. citizenship, the highest recorded number since 2004. The total number of applications to settle in the U.K. granted to Americans also reached a new high by June 2025.
Other European countries, such as the Netherlands, New Zealand and Ireland, have also seen an increase in immigration, with businesses now catering to would-be American expats.
“It’s economically an issue. People are not coming to [the] United States. But also, the more people come and see the U.S. and find things to fall in love with the … more likely that people have a positive view of the country and will then also want their government to have friendly relations with this country.” Kiel said. “And [that’s] where we are losing some of that.”
But emigration from the U.S. is difficult to quantify.
The United States Social Security Administration divides immigration into two groups: lawful permanent residents and other-than-LPR. Those in the latter category are authorized temporary foreign nationals, such as students and temporary workers.
The SSA trustees estimated legal emigration — those leaving America — to be 25% of lawful permanent residents, around 200,000 people per year. The SSA has yet to develop accurate emigration rates, but they project the annual other-than-LPR emigration will rise.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated 600,000 people to have emigrated in 2024, estimating an average emigration rate of 2.9% until 2035.
Neither the SSA nor the CBO categorically distinguishes emigrants from people obtaining legal status as an LPR.
“This is something that is very hard to measure, this people-to-people diplomacy and cultural diplomacy and how much impact it really has,” Kiel said. “And I think that would probably be something to be felt in in 10 years or so.”
“Part of what makes a great power is […] attracting people to you,” Kiel said. “So it’s not just a cultural issue or academic issue, it’s a power issue.”