Searches for “leaving the country” and “how to move to…” saw a sharp increase on Google in the United States on Wednesday, November 6, after the announcement of Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.
Many disappointed across the Atlantic. After Donald Trump's presidential victory, announced Wednesday, November 6, the number of searches for moving abroad increased sharply on Google in the United States, at the end of a tense campaign and at the dawn of an uncertain mandate, reports the media Reuters in particular.
The trends observed on the search engine show that searches for “leaving the country” and “how to move to…” saw a jump once the Republican's victory was announced.
Searches for “how to move to Canada” increased by 1,270% in the 24 hours after polls closed on the US East Coast, while searches for moving to New Zealand jumped by 2,000%. and those for settling in Australia by 820%.
Registration boom in New Zealand
Searches for settling in Canada have skyrocketed, particularly in states which had largely voted the day before for Kamala Harris, opponent of Donald Trump, such as Maine, Oregon and Washington state.
The search “can I move to another country” was, however, particularly frequent in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, two states where voters largely turned to Donald Trump.
According to data from the New Zealand site dedicated to the immigration process, the platform recorded around 25,000 new American users for the day of November 7 alone, compared to 1,500 on the same day in 2023.
“People are afraid of losing their freedoms”
“Every half hour, we receive a new request by email,” lawyer Evan Green, who specializes in immigration law and is based in Canada, told Reuters.
“Trump is obviously the driving force, but it is also a societal factor. The majority of Americans voted for him and some people no longer necessarily feel comfortable in this kind of society. People are afraid of losing their freedoms “, estimated the lawyer.
According to an APA study released in October, 69% of American adults felt the election was causing them stress. A figure slightly higher than in 2020 (68%), when the country was emerging from the turbulent mandate of Donald Trump and the Covid pandemic was still wreaking havoc. It was also much more than the 52% reported in 2016, before the billionaire created a surprise and was elected ahead of Hillary Clinton.
The Republican was declared the winner in seven key states: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona.
