Americans are leaving the U.S. in record numbers and spending hundreds to learn how to do it
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/17/americans-are-leaving-the-united-states-in-record-numbers-spending-hundreds-to-learn-how.html
310 points · 88 comments · view on lemmy.world
88 Comments
realitista@lemmus.org · 53 pts · 78d
Expatsi sounds like a company that would use you as a drug mule.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 74d
Or a company that offers the service of framing you for a crime.
Witchfire@lemmy.world · 46 pts · 78d
I left. No regrets, just a lot of grief. As a trans immigrant, the US does not and has never represented me.
Fun fact, I still have to pay US taxes but I can't renew my US passport. What's that about taxation without representation?
owsei@programming.dev · 14 pts · 77d
What happens if you just don't pay?
FrowingFostek@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 77d
I have no idea what happens if you don't but, next administration might be competent. I wouldn't wanna find out under people who actually know what they're doing.
dermanus@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 77d
Nothing, if you never go back to the US.
realitista@lemmus.org · 4 pts · 77d
Why can't you renew your passport? As a fellow expat I do it whenever it expires at the local embassy.
Witchfire@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 77d
I'm trans.
realitista@lemmus.org · 4 pts · 77d
They won't let you renew your passport because your trans?
Witchfire@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 77d
They've been holding them up in bureaucratic limbo, and at best you get a passport that misrepresents and endangers you anywhere you go. They refuse to process passports if they don't believe your marker matches your ASAB, but then also say they aren't processing gender marker changes.
At least, I've heard/seen enough reports that I'm not going to try it. Also, with the effort it took to change that info in the first place, I'd rather have a correct but expired passport than a wrong one
realitista@lemmus.org · 7 pts · 77d
Motherfuckers.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 77d
If you have dual citizenship why not renounce your US citizenship and stop paying US taxes? If you don’t live in the US and you can’t get a passport, there’s not much advantage to having citizenship.
Witchfire@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 76d
Oh I've considered it, and they just made it cheaper!
modernangel@sh.itjust.works · 31 pts · 78d
is it irony that the regime bending over backward for privileged people is most of all driving out privileged people
HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social · 26 pts · 78d
Not quite - the regime is bending over backwards for people it feels it can control. They don't care about the privileged people leaving, just that there are enough bodies left to fight wars & work.
hanrahan@slrpnk.net · 0 pts · 77d
not really, this guy couldn't survive in the US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOWO32KTcM
RecursiveParadox@piefed.social · 29 pts · 78d
I Left a long time ago (for the second time) and will never go back. My kids got a far better education, my income prospects greatly improved, and life here is just ...easier. Mind you I left from NYC which is everything except easy. Still love NYC but will not go back to visit under these circumstances.
My wife and I fought actively for change on the local level. It changed nothing.
FenrirIII@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 77d
Where did you go?
RecursiveParadox@piefed.social · 10 pts · 77d
NL. I've stated it here and other places before and my Bsky profile is mostly shots of my city. I am trivially easy to dox.
But, I have friends, so don't do that please.
eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 19 pts · 77d
It's the people you can least afford to lose and hardest to replace who tend to go first.
fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net · 8 pts · 78d
I've considered leaving, but I'd need a good work from home job to do it
mrodri89@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 77d
cmbabul@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 78d
If there’s ever a way to take a history of everyone that gets grifted by this it will be fascinating and horrifying
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · 4 pts · 78d
When do you think we'll see Americans jumping over a wall to get into Canada?
fossilesque@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 78d
pH3ra@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 75d
Fuck now ai have to vote for the anti-immigration party... /s
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 74d
Too late, mate, I'm already here and plotting how to take your job.
DupaCycki@lemmy.world · -8 pts · 77d
On one hand - great news. Fewer workers and potential conscripts for the US empire.
On the other hand - I don't think anyone wants even a single American more in their own country.
Side note - how on earth are other countries still respecting US driver's licenses?
iocase@lemmy.zip · 19 pts · 77d
I'll take American doctors and high skill professionals. They're always welcome here in Canada
Plus the people leaving are going to be heavily heavily biased against Trump I think. Why would a MAGA cult member abandon their great nation? It's not even finished becoming great again? Are they that tired of winning?
crispbacon99@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 77d
This right here. The smartest people I know are "leftists". The "right" is filled with majority regressive thinkers and the uber rich brainwashing those idiots into hatred.
edible_funk@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 77d
A significant percentage of Americans have always been plenty hateful, no brainwashing necessary.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 74d
That's just brainwashing that was already done.
edible_funk@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 74d
Been that way since before the founding. We have a half dozen examples of groups that were kicked out of their home countries for being too hateful setting up shop here. It's a fundamental part of the culture. Brainwashing implies the (forcible) changing of one's thoughts and opinions. That's largely not applicable here since it's all baked in from the get go.
NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 77d
I voted against the orange mussolini. But, yeah, I'm the problem bcz I'm American.
hanrahan@slrpnk.net · -6 pts · 77d
yes... this guy makes that point as a Russia, he is the problem and is why he left
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/09/i-had-poked-the-bear-right-in-the-eye-my-fight-to-renounce-my-russian-citizenship
DupaCycki@lemmy.world · -9 pts · 77d
Personally I couldn't care less who you voted for.
Well, yes. No offence to anyone, but vast majority of Americans are a problem wherever they go. Not due to any fault of their own, of course. I'm sure I'd be just as much of a problem if I was born and raised in the US.
However, the fact remains.
NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 77d
I've traveled internationally plenty, used to do it for work, and I never had a problem wherever I went.
Yes, some Americans are obnoxious, as are some people in every country. You've yet to make an actual point.
nullspace@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 76d
You're saying that as if it's a given, but I don't follow your logic. I could see if you were making the case for American tourists, but we're talking about a completely different group of people.
slackassassin@piefed.social · 0 pts · 74d
With this kind of blatant xenophobia and bigotry you'd fit right in with maga.
jordanlund@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 76d
Canada wants us!
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/act-changes/rules-2025.html
NABDad@lemmy.world · -9 pts · 78d
While I certainly understand someone who feels threatened and doesn't want to become another cautionary tale about misjudging fascists capacity for murder, I'm concerned that the exodus of people who oppose the regime just further solidifies their hold.
It also increases the risk for those left behind who can't leave.
If you're leaving because you expect to die if you stay, then godspeed to you. If you're leaving because you'd rather go someplace where you can pretend it doesn't affect you, then fuck you.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 22 pts · 78d
I left pre-Trump, for personal reasons. I'll never go back.
And I think it's unwise to judge those who leave rather than staying and fighting. My ex's family came to the US from Poland in the 1930s. The family that remained in Poland were sent to the camps and murdered. People make their own choices, and it's sanctimonious to lecture those who choose differently than you did. And staying and actually fighting is not the same as being a keyboard warrior, either. I'm not saying you are, but many others are.
We've got our own fasc problem here, too. I'm doing what I can. Lemmy's not the place to go into more detail than that.
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · -6 pts · 77d
Of course you would, you left.
I love how you think it’s sanctimonious that others judge it. They’re leaving because of a bad vote result; something they had the choice to participate in and fix.
That’s it. Vote results. Personal reasons.
Not a world war, like the Poles and Jews suffered. Not starvation and brutality. A fuckin vote result.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 74d
Tell that to people being tortured in El Salvador, or beaten and murdered by ICE, or the kids dying because they weren't vaccinated, or trans people deprived of health care. Or go tell it to the people outside the US who have been slaughtered because of "vote results."
Childhood poverty has skyrocketed, and some of that is at starvation level. It'll get worse. Brutality? See above.
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 72d
That’s the job of those US citizens who didn’t vote, or voted badly in that country, not of those who repeatedly reminded them where they’d be if they didn’t vote and got told to mind their own business. For years too, not just the last three elections
So yeah. Vote results and put your responsibility elsewhere.
Yes, because the US repeatedly refuse to turn out to their elections and the few tgat do continue to vote lunatics in. Again, something their voters are on the hook for, not an outsider.
redsand@infosec.pub · 13 pts · 78d
Ignore this guy. Run if you have the means. The US will self immolate and anyone who can escape should
If you want to stay to defend your home with direct action Godspeed
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · -4 pts · 77d
Yeah nah they’re right.
Stay and fight for it if you can.
Are you going to fight for your new country if your old countrymen come for it? The answers I’ve received so far on this question are pretty bad.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 74d
Yep. It'll have to be in a support capacity, though, since I'm old.
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 72d
You’re the first I’ve asked that, has said they would. I’ve asked it a few times too.
Witchfire@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 78d
Someone's decision to leave is theirs and theirs alone. I fully understand why people who have the means decide to stay, I also know firsthand how difficult it is to leave. Leaving is not an easy choice by any metric, and I'm not going to die in a repurposed Kmart so that the privileged majority can remain comfortable.
eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 77d
The USA made it very clear that they want to kill me. I went to my us rep with a half dozen other trans people and said "we believe the government has genocidal intent towards us".
He said "yeah I don't disagree with you"
"Can you make a public statement in support of your trans constituents?"
"No because then someone in Ohio might not vote Democratic"
This was in one of the safest blue districts in the entire country.
I have kids I need to keep alive and to stay alive for.
Redvenom@retrolemmy.com · -15 pts · 78d
Stay and fix your shit you fuckers
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 77d
This is exactly the sentiment of Republicans here when migrants come to the US to seek a better life.
Congrats on not being better than them, but just being somewhere else.
lechekaflan@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 77d
Really depends on what part of the US they settle into. Some places are highly welcoming of immigrants, but some others are pretty much sundown towns.
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -10 pts · 77d
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 77d
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 77d
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 77d
Did you try reading the comment that I initially replied to? I don't think the context can be any more clear. Let me know if you need me to put it all in one post for you with detailed explanations, but I really don't think that is necessary.
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -4 pts · 77d
athatet@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 77d
lol. Of course you need it spelled out for you.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 77d
I will if you restore the comment you deleted first. Let's have clear and honest communication, or none at all.
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · -10 pts · 77d
They’re seeking a better life because they have no choice.
Americans are seeking escape from a vote result that some didn’t even participate in.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 74d
People almost always have a choice, though it might not be a good one. It's arrogant to assume you know better when they make that choice.
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 72d
No, they don’t, which is why they risk life to attempt it. Or the choice is do bad the risk is worth taking.
Their option on choice is like that of people running from a vote result.
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -13 pts · 77d
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 77d
You know... If you consistently espouse and vehemently defend the same talking points that I've been hearing from Republicans for the last my-whole-life, I think it is fair to call that you a Republican. You might self-identify as something different, the same way North Korea identifies as a democracy, but that just changes the label, not the ideology.
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -10 pts · 77d
athatet@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 77d
Stop making more comments on the same post.
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -10 pts · 77d
yakko@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 77d
Don't tell us what to do, hypocrite. Just because my grandparents got swept off their feet by American propaganda doesn't mean I owe my life to an empire based on slavery.
athatet@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 77d
Okay. It ends up looking pathetic and tryhardy. Just edit the comment you already made.
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 77d
athatet@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 77d
lol
athatet@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 77d
Also it’s just kind of annoying and shitty.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 77d
well that sounds familiar...
cookiecoookie@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 77d
Especially the ones who have the privilege of even having the option of leaving
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 77d
yeah! fuck people who have the means of leaving a bad situation! fuck those Iranians that left before their country was bombed fuck those Jews for fleeing Germany!
/s
bandanawearingbanana@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 77d
to be honest the guy I talked to was homeless.
hanrahan@slrpnk.net · -1 pts · 77d
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOWO32KTcM
bandanawearingbanana@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 78d
Yes please. No more American's in my country complaing to me, a local, about immigrants. I can't fucking do it anymore.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 77d
if you're tired of hearing it, have you thought about shutting the fuck up?
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · -2 pts · 77d
Only an American would tell someone from another country talking about Americans complaining in their country to shut the fuck up.
If you’re not an American you should know better.
How about they fuck off back to America.
slackassassin@piefed.social · 1 pts · 74d
Sounds familiar. Drunk xenophobe unc shit right here.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 76d
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 76d
Nope, you just don’t like hearing it, for the pathetic excuses you’re doing it.
No point has gone over my head. You just can’t handle the mirror.
It’s no different for all of us with the spine to call it. It’s a shame you couldn’t show the same commitment at the polling booth that you do with whining and reacting badly to others that are sick of giving your shit a free pass.
Not just here either.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 76d
your anger is so adorable, misplaced, but adorable.
I can imagine you're just like an angry little leprechaun.
ok buddy, go on back to your rainbow before you hurt yourself.
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 76d
lmao yeah whatever dude
Just stay and fix your shit
k0e3@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 77d
Leaving does help, doesn't it? Think about it: Fewer workers, fewer taxes, and fewer potential soldiers.
stylusmobilus@aussie.zone · 0 pts · 76d
Be good if they put as much effort into that and voting as they do whining about it and downvoting us ay
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -26 pts · 77d
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 77d
someone is clearly up way past their bed time.
does your mommy or daddy know you're online little guy?
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -9 pts · 77d
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 77d
damn, you flamed me good! I'll never recover from that!
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -35 pts · 77d
DupaCycki@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 77d
Yeah, just like North Korean detectors aren't welcome back in North Korea. Bummer.
athatet@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 77d
Lone wolves rarely solve anything.
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -10 pts · 77d
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · 6 pts · 77d
That's hilarious. Keep it up!
RIPandTERROR@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 77d
Hey, you're disgusting. Fix yourself.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 77d
such a cwanky wittle baby!
frog_brawler@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 77d
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 77d