In its 250th year, is America, land of immigration, becoming a country of emigration?
Last year the U.S. experienced something that hasn’t definitively occurred since the Great Depression: More people moved out than moved in. The Trump administration has hailed the exodus—negative net migration—as the fulfillment of its promise to ramp up deportations and restrict new visas. Beneath the stormy optics of that immigration crackdown, however, lies a less-noticed reversal: America’s own citizens are leaving in record numbers, replanting themselves and their families in lands they find more affordable and safe.
Since the Eisenhower administration, the U.S. hasn’t collected comprehensive statistics on the number of citizens leaving. Yet data on residence permits, foreign home purchases, student enrollments and other metrics from more than 50 countries show that Americans are voting with their feet to an unprecedented degree. A millions-strong diaspora is studying, telecommuting and retiring overseas.
The new American dream, for some of its citizens, is to no longer live there.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/americans-are-leaving-the-us-in-record-numbers/ar-AA1X5a4f
WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the second straight year, about one in five Americans say they would like to leave the U.S. and move permanently to another country if they could. This heightened desire to migrate is driven primarily by younger women.
In 2025, 40% of women aged 15 to 44 say they would move abroad permanently if they had the opportunity. The current figure is four times higher than the 10% who shared this desire in 2014, when it was generally in line with other age and gender groups.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/697382/record-numbers-younger-women-leave.aspx
LONDON – The number of US nationals applying for British citizenship hit an all-time high in 2025, the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
A total of 8,790 Americans sought citizenship through either registration or naturalisation in 2025, according to Home Office data published on Feb 26, 42 per cent more than the previous high of 6,192 in 2024.
A record 2,490 applied in the final quarter of 2025.
“There continues to be a rise in interest from the US for those seeking global mobility options, and citizenship is a key part of that,” said Mr Nick Rollason, head of immigration at law firm Kingsley Napley.
Americans can apply for citizenship in Britain either through naturalisation – open to those who have resided in the country legally for at least five years including one year with settled status, or who have a British spouse; or through registration, which is open to people such as Commonwealth citizens, children born abroad to British citizens, or children born in Britain to parents who later get citizenship or settled status.