A growing number of U.S. citizens are considering emigration. A November 2025 Gallup survey found that about one in five Americans say they would like to leave the U.S. and move permanently to another country if they could. 

Earl Wagner, who moved from Houston, Texas to Lisbon, Portugal a year ago, told CGTN Stringer that he was concerned about the radicalization of right-wing Americans and gun violence around him, which contributed to his decision to leave the U.S. Wagner said guns are so prevalent in Houston that he once had a gun pointed at him on a highway.