Neal Freiman

More people are leaving than are coming.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S.

experienced net negative migration in 2025, and that's only going to accelerate this year.

It's a pretty staggering role reversal.

For centuries, America was seen as a country that people around the world yearned to live in for its dynamic economic growth, freedoms, and opportunity for upward mobility.

But for many, the American dream doesn't just ring true anymore.

Some of the departures stem from intentional policy by the Trump administration to crack down on immigration.

The U.S.

deported 675,000 people last year, while 2.2 million others self-deported, per the Department of Homeland Security.

But that doesn't reflect a broader trend of Americans' own citizens heading to foreign shores.

While comprehensive stats on out-migration are difficult to come by, residence permits, home purchases, and student enrollment analyzed by the Journal indicate that American citizens are heading overseas in record numbers.

When surveyed by the Journal on why they're leaving America,

Expats cited a buffet of reasons, lower health care and education costs abroad, safety in the wake of school shootings, distaste for Trump's chaotic politics and the search for a better quality of life.

And what do you make of this great American exodus?

Yeah, they call the University of St.

Andrews mini Nantucket, actually.

I

I do know a lot of Americans that did go there, but the March across the Atlantic is pretty staggering.

How many Americans are moving to Europe?

The total number of Americans living in Portugal is up more than 500% since the COVID pandemic in the past 10 years, the number of American residents has nearly doubled in Spain and the Netherlands.