Immigrant population Sharp fall since January

The immigrant population of the US, which had been growing for more than 50 years, has declined by more than a million people since Donald Trump took office in January and defined immigration as a threat to the country, not one of its strengths.

- Ashifa Kassam

The scramble began in November as news broke that Donald Trump had been re-elected. Benjamin and Chrys Gorman had long said they would leave the US before seeing Trump inaugurated again, giving them 76 days to sell their home, cars and belongings and move four people, three dogs and two cats to Barcelona.

"I was saying: 'We've got more time than that, it won't go that fast,'" said Gorman. "My wife said: 'No, we need to be out of here - not just on inauguration day, but a few days before.' And she was so right."

Within hours of taking office, Trump signed an executive order defining sex as male or female, to be reflected on official documents, sowing confusion over what it meant for Americans with the non-binary "X" in their passports. "Our kid's passport has an 'X' gender marker," said Gorman. "So we managed to escape just in time."

Since Trump's return to power, relocation firms from London to Lisbon and Madrid to Milan say they've seen a surge in inquiries from Americans. Many cite a desire to escape an increasingly polarized climate and an administration whose wide range of targets has included immigrants, diversity measures and political opponents.

In the first two months of 2025, US applications for Irish passports were at the highest level in a decade - up 60% on the same period last year. In the first three months of the year, France reported a rise in long-stay visa requests from Americans, while in March, the number of Americans who had solicited British citizenship in the 12 months before surged to its highest since record-keeping began in 2004. Governments and institutions have sought to capitalize on the exodus, launching programmes aimed at attracting stateside talent.