After Election, a Spike in Emigration Queries

As Donald Trump starts to make plans for his next Cabinet, some Americans are potentially making other plans, including getting out of Dodge. Reuters reports that searches on Google for "move to Canada" spiked 1,270% in the day after US polls closed on Tuesday. Similar searches for moving to Australia and New Zealand also saw big jumps, at 820% and 2,000%, respectively. Ireland and the United Kingdom were other popular search choices on the topic, per the Hill. The searches came nationwide, but especially out of Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, and New Mexico—liberal strongholds and/or states close to the northern border.

Immigration lawyers say they're also getting bombarded with questions. "Every half-hour there is a new email inquiry," says Evan Green, managing partner at Canada's oldest immigration law firm, Green and Spiegel, per Reuters. However, CNBC notes that the sentiment to move "[seems] to be founded more on frustration, rather than actual intention," citing a recent survey that found more than 20% of Americans would consider moving out of the country if the presidential candidate they wanted lost—but with only 2.6% indicating they were "very likely" to actually take the leap. Both Reuters and the Hill note that similar surges in interest about living abroad emerged in 2016, after Trump won the US presidency first time.

"Trump is obviously the impetus, but it's also societal," Green tells Reuters. "The majority of Americans voted for him, and some people don't necessarily feel comfortable living in that kind of society anymore. People are afraid they are going to lose freedoms." Canada, in the meantime, is prepping, per Reuters. "Worst-case scenario would be people crossing in large numbers everywhere on the territory," says the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Charles Poirier, adding that officials knew months ago they'd have to come up with a contingency plan if Trump won. "Let's say we had 100 people per day entering across the border ... it's going to be hard because our officers will basically have to cover huge distances in order to arrest everyone." (More emigration stories.)