The New American Dream: To Leave America

Image via Newsweek

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Many immigrants come to America with the hope of fulfilling the “American Dream”: the widespread idea that in America, through hard work and determination, anyone can achieve upward mobility and financial prosperity, regardless of one’s background or country of origin. 

Of course, with the skyrocketing prices of rent, groceries, and other necessities, as well as the anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration, the American Dream seems to be slipping away—becoming the kind of dream barely remembered when waking up.

As of January 2025, the United States’ immigrant population reached 53.3 million, the largest number ever recorded. By June 2025, however, net immigration had begun to decline, as more immigrants had left the country or been deported. The last time immigration declined was in the 1960s. 

It’s not just immigrants leaving the United States; American citizens are also considering leaving their homes for greener pastures abroad. According to an NPR report, 40% of women ages 18 to 44 are considering permanently leaving the United States – four times the share reported a decade ago. While men expressed the same sentiment at a lower rate, 19% still reported considering moving abroad. 

Not only is this a uniquely American problem, as the rate of these sentiments of leaving one’s home country can not be seen in comparable nations, but these feelings are also united across racial lines. For the first time, white, Black, and Brown Americans are all thinking of moving abroad at the same rate. 

Unsurprisingly, Americans aren’t looking to make that major a change when moving—people are primarily staying within the Western sphere. According to a Talker Research poll, 19% of Americans are considering relocating to Canada, 11% to Italy, and 10% to England. Americans are also considering Ireland, France, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Scotland, and Germany—primarily Western countries with strong English-speaking populations.

Why exactly are Americans considering leaving their great, prosperous homeland? It’s impossible to reduce this large social trend to a single cause, or even a few. Still, this article has its limits; here are the three most prominent reasons: financial insecurity, dwindling political rights, and faltering trust in America’s promise of democracy. 

Those who follow politics online may have encountered the idea that America’s economy is now “K-shaped.” This term describes the widening wealth gap between higher-income Americans and those in the middle and lower classes. The upper arm of the “K” represents higher-income households, while the lower arm represents lower-income Americans. 

However, the primary issue is not merely that the rich are getting richer; rather, incomes at the top 1% are rising faster than this group’s population, concentrating the nation’s wealth among a small elite. Meanwhile, the lower-income population is growing faster than it is earning, further widening the income gap. 

This wealth gap is exemplified by most Americans’ experiences with affordability, or lack thereof. Most Americans struggle to afford rent, food, healthcare, or other basic necessities on a minimum-wage salary. People cannot afford to live in America, much less accrue long-term wealth or achieve any semblance of upward mobility. 

Perhaps even more pressing than Americans lacking a livable wage are the rollbacks of countless civil rights for United States citizens. America has been one of four countries to begin restrictions on abortion, alongside Poland, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. The federal government’s reversal of Roe v. Wade shocked many citizens nationwide, and many began to wonder which rights they might lose next.

Additionally, the Trump Administration has strongly supported stricter voter ID laws, which pose barriers for people whose current name differs from the one on their birth certificate, i.e., married women, transgender people, immigrants, and others who have changed their name. 

Then, there is the rise of racism in America, affecting almost half of this country’s population. Black and Brown Americans fear institutional racism and racialized violence. Asian Americans continue to grapple with the rise in anti-Asian hate during the pandemic. Latino Americans face an intensified anti-immigration campaign and fear being kidnapped by ICE agents, being thrown into detainment camps, or being deported to countries they’ve never even been to. 

Given this combination of systemic racism, fearmongering, and economic instability, it is not hard to understand why Americans are losing trust in the federal government. A Harvard Poll cited uncertainty about artificial intelligence, social and emotional strain from political conflict, and rising economic pressures as drivers of this decline. The sentiment spans the political spectrum; while young Americans were more likely to rate Donald Trump and the Republican Party poorly, they were also highly critical of Democrats. 

So where might you move when the great American experiment continues to falter? Ireland is often floated as a popular option—but destinations beyond the Western sphere are increasingly part of the conversation.

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This article was edited by Remi Morris and Eliana Tesfaye.