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The Great American Reassessment: Why Some Are Moving Abroad

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The concept of the “American Dream” has long been a global beacon, drawing millions with the promise of opportunity and prosperity. Yet, a nuanced and significant shift is underway: a growing number of Americans are actively redefining this dream, and for some, it now involves looking beyond U.S. borders. This isn’t merely an economic trend; it’s a profound psychological and socio-cultural transformation, underscored by recent events in major American cities.

The Turning Point: What Happened in Los Angeles?

The widespread social unrest in Los Angeles in June 2025, sparked by federal immigration raids, served as a potent catalyst for this re-evaluation. Aggressive interventions, the deployment of National Guard and Marine forces, and the ensuing chaos – curfews, detentions, injured journalists, looting, and arson – cast a stark shadow over the city. These events not only fueled security concerns but also ignited constitutional debates about federal authority. For many affluent individuals, these moments became a pivotal turning point, prompting a serious reassessment of their long-term life strategies and a deeper exploration of alternatives outside the U.S.

The immediate fallout was palpable: tourism took a significant hit, with widespread cancellations and disruptions to local businesses. Sales plunged by as much as 80% in some Downtown Los Angeles areas, and fear within undocumented immigrant communities led to workforce dropouts, further slowing economic activity. This stark reality highlighted the vulnerability of even a globally beloved and dynamic city to internal pressures.

Beyond the Headlines: The Deeper Motivations

While the events in Los Angeles provided a stark visual, the interest in overseas living is part of a longer, deeper shift. Our research shows a significant increase in inquiries, with a 55% spike between 2023 and 2024 in Americans identifying migration as their “Plan A.” This isn’t just speculation; it’s a fundamental shift in mindset driven by several interwoven factors:

  • Rising Living Costs and Healthcare: The financial burden of life in the U.S. has become unsustainable for many. With the cost of living rising 3.1% in 2024 (housing up 5.7%, transportation up 9.4%) and healthcare spending increasing 7.5% in 2023 to nearly $5 trillion, the U.S. often ranks lower in healthcare outcomes and accessibility compared to other developed nations.
  • Political and Social Unrest: Beyond singular events, a pervasive sense of political instability and social discord is a significant motivator. Concerns about upcoming elections, policy uncertainty, and a desire for greater social alignment are pushing individuals to seek more stable and predictable environments. The 2024 election results, for instance, reportedly spurred a staggering 1,514% increase in online searches related to emigration.
  • Quality of Life and Work-Life Balance: Many are seeking a more relaxed pace of life and a stronger emphasis on family and leisure time, often found in countries with more accessible healthcare systems and lower housing costs.
  • Limited Economic Opportunities or Job Dissatisfaction: Some are exploring international opportunities due to stagnant wages, limited career growth, or a desire for better prospects abroad.
  • Tax Efficiency and Affordable Education: The allure of more favorable tax structures and the ability for children to access publicly funded university systems in EU countries are compelling incentives for family-focused investors.

This trend is also evidenced by search engine trends, with keywords like “How to move abroad from the US,” “second citizenship,” and “Golden Visa” growing by 30-45% between 2023 and 2024. High-net-worth individuals are increasingly diversifying not just their financial portfolios but also their geographic exposure through real estate investments in Europe, seeing it as a strategic move for stability and freedom.

“Plan B” Becomes “Plan A”: The Rise of Investment Migration

The traditional U.S. passport, once considered the ultimate tool for global mobility, is increasingly seen as insufficient on its own. Investment migration programs, like the Golden Visas offered by Portugal, Greece, and Malta, are emerging not simply as vehicles for financial gain but as strategic tools for safeguarding quality of life and providing a sense of psychological security. These programs offer advantages beyond travel, including tax planning, estate management, alternative residency rights, and legal protection. For many Americans, a Golden Visa is no longer just a “backup passport”; it’s a pathway to a new life, minimizing risk and unlocking global access.

Popular destinations attracting American emigrants include:

  • Europe: Portugal, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Malta offer various investor visa or citizenship by ancestry programs, leading to residency and potentially citizenship.
  • United Kingdom: The UK has seen a record number of U.S. citizens applying for residency or nationality, leveraging pathways like the Global Talent and Skilled Worker visas.
  • New Zealand: Its Active Investor Plus Visa program, coupled with high quality of life rankings, makes it an attractive option for those seeking political stability, excellent healthcare, and a straightforward business environment.
  • Canada: The Startup Visa program offers a pathway to permanent residency for entrepreneurs looking to launch innovative businesses.
  • Caribbean Islands: Countries with citizenship by investment programs are drawing Americans, stimulating economic growth and fostering a more globalized community.

Need to Know:

  • The “American Exodus” is more about increased interest than mass departure. While 25% of Americans are considering relocating internationally and searches for moving abroad are surging, the actual number of those actively leaving is much smaller (estimated at 1-2% of the population, or 3-6 million, with 5.5 million Americans already living overseas).
  • Motivations are complex. It’s not just political dissatisfaction; factors like cost of living, healthcare, quality of life, and economic opportunities play significant roles.
  • Investment migration is a growing trend. Programs offering residency or citizenship through investment are becoming a popular “Plan B” (and increasingly “Plan A”) for those seeking greater security and flexibility.
  • Renouncing citizenship is still rare. While increasing, it’s primarily linked to complex international tax laws and typically done by long-term expats with dual citizenship.

Take-Aways:

  • The American Dream is evolving: It’s no longer a monolithic concept tied to a single geography.
  • Global mobility is the new currency of security: For many, the ability to live and invest across multiple regions is paramount.
  • The U.S. is at a crossroads: The internal challenges are prompting a critical re-evaluation of its attractiveness as a place to live and thrive for some of its citizens.

Implications for American Culture and Society:

This outward migration, even if it represents a small percentage of the population, carries profound implications for American culture and society. It signals a growing disquiet and a search for stability and quality of life that some feel is increasingly elusive at home. The departure of high-net-worth individuals, skilled workers, and families seeking better educational opportunities could lead to a brain drain and a loss of economic vitality in certain sectors. It also underscores a deepening fragmentation of the American identity, where national allegiance is increasingly intertwined with individual well-being and a global perspective.

However, this phenomenon also presents an opportunity for introspection and renewal. It challenges America to address the underlying issues that are driving its citizens to look elsewhere: the rising costs, the healthcare crisis, the political polarization, and the struggle for a balanced quality of life. The very act of some Americans seeking new horizons can serve as a potent call to action for those who remain, and for the nation as a whole.

This moment invites us to recall the words of Langston Hughes, who, in “Let America Be America Again,” envisioned “The land that never has been yet – And yet must be.” His poem is a powerful plea for an America that lives up to its promise of freedom and opportunity for all, not just a select few. The current reassessment by some Americans, while cautionary, is ultimately a testament to the enduring American spirit – one that strives for a better life, even if that means looking beyond familiar shores.

The “America yet to be” is not solely built within its borders, but forged by the aspirations and resilience of its people, wherever they may roam. It calls upon us to double down on the commitment to building a nation where security, affordability, and a high quality of life are not privileges to be sought elsewhere, but fundamental realities to be built here, together, for all. The story of Americans leaving America is not an ending despite the rogue Trump administration, but a new chapter in the ongoing, complex, and vital narrative of the American dream – a narrative that we, the people, continue to write, committed to the ideals of “the America yet to be.”

From Immigration Status, Green Card To Passport; The Real Costs Of Becoming An American Citizen

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BY JEANETTE LENOIR

 

The American dream, to many, is increasingly symbolizing the old Irish folktale about the Leprechaun and his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And unluckily, refugees and new immigrants under the administration of President Donald J. Trump are losing their way trying to find that elusive pot of gold in the maze of America’s immigration and refugee resettlement system. Gauging the national discourse, no wishes will be granted if it was solely up to the Republicans now in charge of the White House, Senate and the House of Representatives.

The chaotic role-out of the first executive order barring immigration from majority Muslim countries sent shock waves across the country and the world, signaling a clear attempt to set the tone of a new era of American politics and her role in the free world. The ripple effects of the first so called “Muslim ban” is still stirring up fears, and forcing agency-wide adjustments, as well as, increasing costs for refugee and new immigrant service providers. Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees is not immune to the shifts underfoot. The agency’s sole mission is to resettle refugees and help usher in new immigrants to America with the promise of a better life and a chance to achieve the American dream.

MVRCR, Executive Director, Shelly Callahan says, “The number of refugees that we receive in a year is down. We were hoping that there would be some recovery but it looks like our numbers are just going to be down. Typically we resettle about 400, or a little over 400 [refugees] a year. We’re now around 130, or 140 and I’m not sure if it’s going to go up much from there.” Callahan says it’s because of the way the two executive orders have been handed down, “The chaos and just the constantly shifting grounds for refugee resettlement agencies has been really, really damaging,” she said. Southern Poverty Law Center agrees and filed its own federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the ban last week. The suit brought by SPLC on behalf of a Yemeni couple essentially charges that Trump’s order is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Following the roll out of the first executive order Callahan says there was some confusion about who could and couldn’t travel. “There was a short window of time where certain refugees could travel, but what happened, the overseas processing centers where refugees typically go before they travel to their resettlement country, the chaos had refugees leaving the overseas processing centers thinking that they couldn’t leave to the U.S. and then it turned out that some of them could.” She says flights were booked and rebooked many times with people still missing them. And, workers traveling to airports to pick up refugees that didn’t make their flights were costly. Toting up to the confusion is the real agony witnessed when families get separated due to the lack of clear communications and understanding of the new immigration and resettlement policy.  “When these travel bans happen, there’s real concern that these families aren’t going to be able to reunite,” she said. The lawsuit filed by SPLC is to assist the Yemeni couple reunite with their two children that are currently unable to travel to the U.S. due to the executive orders.

Callahan says the agency operates with, “not a lot of fat” to begin with and the increase in costs for refugee resettlement is hitting them hard. Add to that depiction, the decrease in refugee resettlement numbers impacts the work being done to help displaced people around the world that in turn help to improve economically depressed regions like Utica, NY. If Republicans and President Trump’s position and rhetoric on immigration continue to advance on its current path, the impact of losing refugee and new immigrant resettlement programs will undoubtedly be felt by the communities that benefit from their contributions. Refugee resettlement programs bring people and dollars to communities that open their doors to them. For starters, MVRCR gets $950 to resettle each refugee, and an additional $1,150 to be spent on their behalf. The money goes to finding and setting up their housing. “So, for each case, a combination of that $950 that goes to the agency and the $1,150, for a single case, we’re getting them housing, getting their lights turned on, furnishing it all for $1,150, which can be challenging, but for families of 3, 4, 5, 6…that’s a little bit easier and they may actually get money back when we close their case because we wouldn’t have spent down all those dollars,” Callahan explains.

Each refugee also equates to other federal and state dollars for the county through other avenues like grant funding for different programs to help advance the resettlement process. From learning how to drive and understand American driving rules, to language, job training and placement. Nevertheless, Callahan says the U.S. resettlement programs encourage self sufficiency. She said, “So, it’s a hand-up. The refugees come here owing their airfare back to the federal government 6-months post arrival. They’re expected to start paying that down. I think it’s a misconception to think that refugees come here and are given all sorts of resources. They’re definitely given some but it really is a program that expects them to work very hard to be successful.”

Callahan also touts the healthy relationship that’s been cultivated with local and out of area businesses that credit the employment program, and the work undertaken by MVRCR with the rebirth of a dying city. “I think this city would be a ghost town without refugee resettlement,” Callahan said. Refugees and new immigrants bring value to the region that surpasses those aforementioned returns, as their impact can be felt and seen economically, culturally, and socially. Not to mention Utica’s evolving culinary scene. “We have definitely, as a community, benefited enormously from the 36-year history of welcoming these folks in to our community. Our community is absolutely richer for it. I can’t think of anything over those decades that have had a bigger impact, economically and socially, than the population added,” she said.

Long established locals still remember and commiserate about a time when large numbers of employers were leaving the area, properties sitting abandoned for years, until the first major wave of resettlement efforts that started with the Bosnian’s in the 1990s, ushered in a new energy. “There was a time when the population was in danger of dropping below 50-thousand, which would have had some really horrific impacts in terms of federal dollars that the city was able to access for any of its recovery work, but if you just think about the numbers; 16-thousand refugees, just through this center alone, and that doesn’t count secondary migrants, which are refugees that come from other places in the U.S., but if you think about the population number and what its impact for the positive, having these folks resettle in Utica has been, in terms of the economic impact, cannot be overstated,” she said.

But the winds of change are shifting and refugees and other new immigrants fear the worst. Azira Tabucic, Manager, Immigration & Citizenship at MVRCR says the number of people looking to change their immigration status to avoid being deported has increased significantly. “The numbers are really, really large this time. Not only for green card seekers but for many folks that never thought about the importance of being citizens are applying for citizenship. My schedule is booked till May,” she said.

Tabucic explained that the actual cost of becoming a citizen ranges from zero to $5,000, or more, depending on the circumstances of the person being resettled. Refugees and Asylum seekers go through a different process than new immigrants. And economic status, along with a host of other  measures determine how much an individual or a family has to pay for legal status in the U.S. Additionally, the cost to go through the immigration process with assistance from a federally designated agency like MVRCR, separate from other application and medical testing fees, increased in December of 2016. And, from start to finish the process can take about 6-years if individuals follow the rules and timeline set forth by U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, (USCIS). Adding to an already difficult and lengthy process, Tabucic says the increased cost can be waved or decreased depending on the person’s economic or immigration status. More information, including worksheets, forms, applications, a list of changes and new costs can be found on the USCIS website. Click Here for a direct link to the USCIS fee schedule used by MVRCR.

The U.S. immigration process is a complicated one, with many shifts and turns depending on criteria, status and a host of other measures, making the work of MVRCR crucial for folks looking or forced to call the U.S. home. Callahan says locally there have been people picked-up by immigration officials, including some refugees that had some criminal aspects to their background, and sent to deportation centers. She says there is this undercurrent of fear and confusion about what is going to happen next and who it’s going to impact.  “What this means for us is…one of the things we do through the Office of New Americans and our Immigration and Citizenship office is have our attorney’s here, pro bono, twice a month to work with people who might have some complications with regards to their resident status,” she said.

Another way the agency is preparing refugees and new immigrants for an uncertain future as they make their way through the U.S. immigration process is via education on immigrant’s rights and emergency planning. She said, “This is pretty heart-breaking…we help people go over what to do if you are scooped up in a raid and essentially disappear from your family and community. We’re having parents work on Power of Attorney with their children; we’re having them get all sorts of things in place so that if they get scooped up in one of these situations they know what to do.” Callahan says when someone gets picked up by immigration officials they don’t get a phone call or due process one may expect, by informing other agencies or even their family members about a detainees’ whereabouts. “You just get picked up and you essentially disappear,” she says.

Although Utica is not considered a sanctuary city, the local police department is in step with other police departments across the country, like in Boston, NYC and Los Angeles. According to Callahan, Utica Police have made it clear that they are not going to act as agents of immigration. “Our Utica Police Department have been great. They’ve come here; they’ve talked to staff and clients and assured us that that isn’t their role. They’re not looking to get people in trouble with immigration,” she says. She adds it would be a detrimental position to take considering the work that’s been done to foster and build relationships with the refugee population and other immigrant groups. In spite of the anti-refugee and anti-immigration sentiments across the country, Callahan says she remains hopeful in an uncertain world enforcing boundaries, while adhering to humanitarian standards and coping with displaced people yearning for salvation, “I think that most people believe what is written on the Statue of Liberty. This country has always prided itself on its moral leadership, and I think that’s still who we are.”