Yes...immigrant. I've had a bug up my pattootie about this for years and years. I was an expat, working for my global employer for one year in London. I am now an immigrant, living intentionally in Portugal for the rest of my life. I am delighted that you are with us.
Thank you for this excellent post. We, too, are leaving the US because we don't like what it has become and will become in the coming months and years. Our family is surprised when we tell them the move is "for good." What they don't understand is that "for good" also means for a good quality of life, a safe environment, a sane government, and friendly (not hateful) people. Our grandparents were immigrants and now we will be, too.
Having planned to leave the US for so many of the reasons you mentioned, I too, will soon be an immigrant, with very limited means, seeking refuge from a fearful situation! Yes, I am an aspiring immigrant, and proud of my decision to take the necessary steps to become one. Perhaps, had I waited too long, I would then consider myself a refugee, but I am no longer waiting... Words are important as they frame our mindset and help to define how we perceive the world and our place in it. Thank you
Nancy, thank you for another thoughtful and thought-provoking post. And please pass on to Timothy my thanks for allowing you to share his story. It, combined with the other comments you've received, illustrate what a complex topic this is. Personal identity, national identity, safety for self and family, hard personal choices, significant economic consequences, fear of (and sorrow for) what's happening in America, fear of the unknown in a new land. Each of us who have moved, or are contemplating a move, to a new country have a multitude of reasons. Some of our decisions and rationales may resonate with others, some may not. I was particularly struck by the contrast between two comments - one saying we would never see "pogroms" in the US, and the next describing something just as disturbing.
I am an immigrant, by choice, not necessity. My wife and I dreamed of living outside the US for many years. We are fortunate that we accumulated the means to make that dream a reality. We are WASPs, straight, and proudly liberal. We often felt out of place in the communities we lived in, but never felt threatened or discriminated against. But as we made our move in mid-2021, there were many moments when we read the news and said to ourselves, "We're glad to be leaving". And as I have watched the events unfolding in the US since we've left, I am sad. I wish I could be shocked and appalled, but those emotions are long past.
As late as this morning, when I read the stories about how the Democrats seem unlikely to pass the voting rights legislation that is so desperately needed, I said to myself again, "I'm not going back."
Looking ahead, Timothy's words reflect my own thoughts: "I am the stranger. I am the foreigner...I am a guest, an immigrant. And I always will be. And I am grateful to be a guest. I will attempt to be the best guest I can be."
Hi Nancy, your post today actually made me cry. I have, in fact, lived as an “expat,” in seven countries due to my father’s work, and then mine and my ex-husband’s, yet my move to Portugal is of a whole other caliber. I literally fled the U.S. I am from a traditionally liberal University town that is being targeted by a coordinated rightening political assault. Before the elections we began to see a multitude of cars with license plates from the Deep South, and sleek lobby groups moved into the area, and began a veritable campaign of intimidation and misinformation. They began to target women teachers with threats, as well as the liberal superintendent of our school district, They began a slander campaign against our liberal Jewish mayor, etc. Armed Alex Jones supporters came into our neighborhoods—some in camouflage—with semi-automatic weapons. He had Russian-speaking bodyguards with walkie-talkies. Women in our neighborhoods stood up to them, blocking access to their streets by parking their cars across the streets leading into our neighborhoods.
At one point, they brought boats
—and guns I imagine—(we have lots of rivers and lakes) and paraded up and down the waterways with Trump banners.
We fought back as best we could: we fact-checked their lies, used online platforms. And city council and school board meetings to debunk their conspiracy theories. Our teachers were intimidated and threatened (many have immigrated here) our superintendent is fleeing back to Chicago, his home town, and many teachers from the city are trying to immigrate to Portugal.
I was particularly vocal in local politics, and as my strong point is research, I compiled a bill of student (and teachers’) rights using resources from the ACLU, Southern poverty Law Center, with a history and summary of civil rights laws, and telephone numbers of organizations that help those being discriminated against, because the abuse was misogynistic, any-gay, anti-foreigner, etc. I confronted someone who had worked directly for Trump, as well as revealed the fact that people posing as alumni or parents of our school district, or as liberal local politicians were often living out of state, and worked for ultra right-leaning lobby groups with sleek PR and tech savvy teams.
My daughter was aggressed online, I began to receive telephone calls all day (they would just listen), people I didn’t know would text me and ask me to meet them in public places for lunch or ask who I was, my FB page got hacked, and then people started coming to my door at 1:00 a.m. or so. I sent my daughter to live with her dad abroad and began to apply for a visa to live in Portugal.
I had to sell everything, and leave with a fraction of what I owned to be able to afford the move. I was even hassled on the way out. They dusted my hands for explosives, temporarily lost my shoes, went through my papers (I’m an academic, so I have plenty of papers!), and when I was boarding a connecting flight, they hassled me again, took me out of the line, claimed the airline in my city said I did not have a COVID test or proper papers to export my daughter’s dog (I would not have been able to board the plane at my point of origin had I not presented these!). It all felt intentional and o believe it was a Parthenon kick in the backside on my way out.
When we took off to Portugal, I sat in my seat and quietly cried.
We often wonder how we will react in the face of adversity, and II am proud to say that I fought back. As did my daughter.
Yet in the end, I had to face the reality that we were not safe. I don’t like the place the US has become, and this saddens me. Although I lived many years in Europe growing up, I always thought of the U.S. as a dynamic, multicultural place I could flee to if fascism ever returned to Europe (my children are half Jewish). So I am not an expat this time. I left my country all alone out of fear. I am not optimistic for the future of American politics.
I have fortunately met a gay married couple who have become like younger brothers to me. They are Ukrainian/British and Italian/South African; like me they have lived in many countries. I spend most of my time with them, and like me they are highly traumatized..They we’re loving in the US, where one taught fashion design. He felt the political climate was, pre-Trump, already becoming intolerant on both sides. They moved to Italy where on of them has family, but they were aggressed for being gay; even spat upon. The political climate is changing there as well.
I am invited to dinner tonight by a new Portuguese friend. He wants to introduce me to his group of friends (they are Europeans from various places). My friend has never been to the US. The first thing people want to know is why I’ve immigrated and why so many Americans are leaving.
As news of what is happening on the micro-level does not reach Europe, they don’t know how deliberately terrifying the push from the ultra rightwing has become. Even my own mother—a well-educated former liberal who devoted her life to working in poor black school districts—has joined QAnon. She posted publicly that my ideas are “Bolshevik propaganda,” and that I have been brainwashed by the Washington Post the New York Times. She did it in such a way that these lunatics could find out where I lived. Despite having half-Jewish grandkids, she sent me an antisemitic cartoon. So I’ve lost country and family.
My story is just one in many thousands of similar stories, but it made me feel that I am not alone to read your blog this morning. So many of us are traumatized, some have PTSD.
Sometime in the next few weeks, my former neighbors (he is a Mexican-born US citizen, and she is Jewish Mexican of Portuguese decent, and a teacher, will leave my former city to move here. I can hear the panic in their voices. They are not wealthy, and have liquidated his business, and starting selling off their things in order to be able to move
and live here. They no longer feel it is safe for them and their kids there. Teachers were attacked at her school; anti-maskers ripped the mask off of one teacher’s face, some teachers even received death threats.
I think we need to share these stories, for not only are these things happening, but those propagating the violence, and it is violence even when it remains purely psychological, are also calling into question our perceptions of this reality.
While these two terms, expat and immigrant, have written definitions, to me they are defined by my own perceptions (which could very well be different from yours, but share elements with what others have posted here). I consider expat to be a temporary state which can mean simply working abroad for a year or someone who just isn't ready to commit to leaving their 'homeland' behind. Do I intend to return? Am I on an extended vacation? What ties do I leave behind? A home? Family? Financial assets? Expat is remaining connected to the past home. Immigrant is looking forward, moving TO a new home, making a new home, committing to the new home. Immigrant is also how others who live in the new country think of me (I hope), coming INto their homeland. To be an expat is to hold onto the past connection. To be an immigrant is to embrace the new home and even make efforts to become part of that community. It's my intent to make the transition from expat to immigrant. Thanks for raising the topic.
In 1983, I went overseas to work as an expat in Hong Kong. Most expats living there were married, sending their kids to the American School and it had that white privileged bow wrapped around their journey. As for me, I was fresh out of graduate school having learned Mandarin Chinese and single. I was fortunate to have been sent overseas by my employer and knew it would be temporary. I was not an immigrant as I knew this was a temporary move for me that lasted 7 1/2 years.
I feel your pain about the US. Having lived in many countries, I can say that it seems that some countries are only better temporarily. Particularly I notice this in South America. In twenty years a country can go from a wealthy and healthy society and culture to violent revolution. In my study of this it seems there is a recurring pattern called "turnings" where nations and cultures go from wealthy and free to poor and despotic. This Yale Professor summarizes it well, https://youtu.be/slxk5YATULM?t=2
Interesting post...and language matters. I would not equate immigrant and refugee - and though the image of expats from pre-WW2 does imply means etc, I would have a hard time calling myself a refugee, knowing that there are 84 million people worldwide that have been forced from their homes due to violence, conflict, and persecution. And the EU is doing its damndest to ensure that those who are so desperate for a better life (from areas other than North America) do not land on European soil.
Humanitarian rescue boats in the Mediterranean have trouble finding ports to land while rescuing people from boats unsuitable for crossing, fleeced of all their money for the trip, and many working on those rescue boats are being prosecuted (by EU countries) for their humanitarian work. And Europe's grand bargain with Turkey and Libya are nothing short of immoral.
Having a US (or EU or UK) passport is an unearned privilege beyond most of the world's wildest dreams. I was approved for residency in Portugal by having to prove I could support myself against the Portuguese minimum wage - that was not a great hurdle, even on social security. I appreciate this country so much for so many things but their D7 visa was an economic boom for Portugal - and I'm glad, its a country that deserves to thrive but how many of us immigrants have it so much better than most of the citizens here?
Maybe I see refugee as someone without much choice to flee from their home country - where means doesn't enter into the equation, only desperation and threat. I've worked in too many countries with displaced and refugees struggling for survival and watched the US and EU close its doors to people from countries that have been exploited/colonized by US/EU/UK for centuries for their resources.
Even though I hate, as a lesbian, feminist, anti-racist, what is going on in the US, the fact that I am able to relocate here is a choice - and I feel conflicted that I am leaving the fight for democracy, fairness, to others who don't have the humble means I do. I rationalize it thinking it is up to the young people in US to decide what kind of country they want to live in - and I can donate to causes and vote but it's their turn to be in the streets.
So I can agree on being an immigrant, rather than expat, but I am not a refugee.
Yes...immigrant. I've had a bug up my pattootie about this for years and years. I was an expat, working for my global employer for one year in London. I am now an immigrant, living intentionally in Portugal for the rest of my life. I am delighted that you are with us.
Thank you for this excellent post. We, too, are leaving the US because we don't like what it has become and will become in the coming months and years. Our family is surprised when we tell them the move is "for good." What they don't understand is that "for good" also means for a good quality of life, a safe environment, a sane government, and friendly (not hateful) people. Our grandparents were immigrants and now we will be, too.
I think there are enough of us who left for the same reason as you, that we can call ourselves the diaspora.
Great write, both you and Timothy. I hope articles like these gives a better standing to the word "Immigrant"
Love the title! The premise ... and the exposition. Great minds think alike:
https://pastorbrucesblog.com/2020/07/19/expat-immigrant-fugitive-refugee/
Well written
Having planned to leave the US for so many of the reasons you mentioned, I too, will soon be an immigrant, with very limited means, seeking refuge from a fearful situation! Yes, I am an aspiring immigrant, and proud of my decision to take the necessary steps to become one. Perhaps, had I waited too long, I would then consider myself a refugee, but I am no longer waiting... Words are important as they frame our mindset and help to define how we perceive the world and our place in it. Thank you
Nancy, thank you for another thoughtful and thought-provoking post. And please pass on to Timothy my thanks for allowing you to share his story. It, combined with the other comments you've received, illustrate what a complex topic this is. Personal identity, national identity, safety for self and family, hard personal choices, significant economic consequences, fear of (and sorrow for) what's happening in America, fear of the unknown in a new land. Each of us who have moved, or are contemplating a move, to a new country have a multitude of reasons. Some of our decisions and rationales may resonate with others, some may not. I was particularly struck by the contrast between two comments - one saying we would never see "pogroms" in the US, and the next describing something just as disturbing.
I am an immigrant, by choice, not necessity. My wife and I dreamed of living outside the US for many years. We are fortunate that we accumulated the means to make that dream a reality. We are WASPs, straight, and proudly liberal. We often felt out of place in the communities we lived in, but never felt threatened or discriminated against. But as we made our move in mid-2021, there were many moments when we read the news and said to ourselves, "We're glad to be leaving". And as I have watched the events unfolding in the US since we've left, I am sad. I wish I could be shocked and appalled, but those emotions are long past.
As late as this morning, when I read the stories about how the Democrats seem unlikely to pass the voting rights legislation that is so desperately needed, I said to myself again, "I'm not going back."
Looking ahead, Timothy's words reflect my own thoughts: "I am the stranger. I am the foreigner...I am a guest, an immigrant. And I always will be. And I am grateful to be a guest. I will attempt to be the best guest I can be."
Hi Nancy, your post today actually made me cry. I have, in fact, lived as an “expat,” in seven countries due to my father’s work, and then mine and my ex-husband’s, yet my move to Portugal is of a whole other caliber. I literally fled the U.S. I am from a traditionally liberal University town that is being targeted by a coordinated rightening political assault. Before the elections we began to see a multitude of cars with license plates from the Deep South, and sleek lobby groups moved into the area, and began a veritable campaign of intimidation and misinformation. They began to target women teachers with threats, as well as the liberal superintendent of our school district, They began a slander campaign against our liberal Jewish mayor, etc. Armed Alex Jones supporters came into our neighborhoods—some in camouflage—with semi-automatic weapons. He had Russian-speaking bodyguards with walkie-talkies. Women in our neighborhoods stood up to them, blocking access to their streets by parking their cars across the streets leading into our neighborhoods.
At one point, they brought boats
—and guns I imagine—(we have lots of rivers and lakes) and paraded up and down the waterways with Trump banners.
We fought back as best we could: we fact-checked their lies, used online platforms. And city council and school board meetings to debunk their conspiracy theories. Our teachers were intimidated and threatened (many have immigrated here) our superintendent is fleeing back to Chicago, his home town, and many teachers from the city are trying to immigrate to Portugal.
I was particularly vocal in local politics, and as my strong point is research, I compiled a bill of student (and teachers’) rights using resources from the ACLU, Southern poverty Law Center, with a history and summary of civil rights laws, and telephone numbers of organizations that help those being discriminated against, because the abuse was misogynistic, any-gay, anti-foreigner, etc. I confronted someone who had worked directly for Trump, as well as revealed the fact that people posing as alumni or parents of our school district, or as liberal local politicians were often living out of state, and worked for ultra right-leaning lobby groups with sleek PR and tech savvy teams.
My daughter was aggressed online, I began to receive telephone calls all day (they would just listen), people I didn’t know would text me and ask me to meet them in public places for lunch or ask who I was, my FB page got hacked, and then people started coming to my door at 1:00 a.m. or so. I sent my daughter to live with her dad abroad and began to apply for a visa to live in Portugal.
I had to sell everything, and leave with a fraction of what I owned to be able to afford the move. I was even hassled on the way out. They dusted my hands for explosives, temporarily lost my shoes, went through my papers (I’m an academic, so I have plenty of papers!), and when I was boarding a connecting flight, they hassled me again, took me out of the line, claimed the airline in my city said I did not have a COVID test or proper papers to export my daughter’s dog (I would not have been able to board the plane at my point of origin had I not presented these!). It all felt intentional and o believe it was a Parthenon kick in the backside on my way out.
When we took off to Portugal, I sat in my seat and quietly cried.
We often wonder how we will react in the face of adversity, and II am proud to say that I fought back. As did my daughter.
Yet in the end, I had to face the reality that we were not safe. I don’t like the place the US has become, and this saddens me. Although I lived many years in Europe growing up, I always thought of the U.S. as a dynamic, multicultural place I could flee to if fascism ever returned to Europe (my children are half Jewish). So I am not an expat this time. I left my country all alone out of fear. I am not optimistic for the future of American politics.
I have fortunately met a gay married couple who have become like younger brothers to me. They are Ukrainian/British and Italian/South African; like me they have lived in many countries. I spend most of my time with them, and like me they are highly traumatized..They we’re loving in the US, where one taught fashion design. He felt the political climate was, pre-Trump, already becoming intolerant on both sides. They moved to Italy where on of them has family, but they were aggressed for being gay; even spat upon. The political climate is changing there as well.
I am invited to dinner tonight by a new Portuguese friend. He wants to introduce me to his group of friends (they are Europeans from various places). My friend has never been to the US. The first thing people want to know is why I’ve immigrated and why so many Americans are leaving.
As news of what is happening on the micro-level does not reach Europe, they don’t know how deliberately terrifying the push from the ultra rightwing has become. Even my own mother—a well-educated former liberal who devoted her life to working in poor black school districts—has joined QAnon. She posted publicly that my ideas are “Bolshevik propaganda,” and that I have been brainwashed by the Washington Post the New York Times. She did it in such a way that these lunatics could find out where I lived. Despite having half-Jewish grandkids, she sent me an antisemitic cartoon. So I’ve lost country and family.
My story is just one in many thousands of similar stories, but it made me feel that I am not alone to read your blog this morning. So many of us are traumatized, some have PTSD.
Sometime in the next few weeks, my former neighbors (he is a Mexican-born US citizen, and she is Jewish Mexican of Portuguese decent, and a teacher, will leave my former city to move here. I can hear the panic in their voices. They are not wealthy, and have liquidated his business, and starting selling off their things in order to be able to move
and live here. They no longer feel it is safe for them and their kids there. Teachers were attacked at her school; anti-maskers ripped the mask off of one teacher’s face, some teachers even received death threats.
I think we need to share these stories, for not only are these things happening, but those propagating the violence, and it is violence even when it remains purely psychological, are also calling into question our perceptions of this reality.
While these two terms, expat and immigrant, have written definitions, to me they are defined by my own perceptions (which could very well be different from yours, but share elements with what others have posted here). I consider expat to be a temporary state which can mean simply working abroad for a year or someone who just isn't ready to commit to leaving their 'homeland' behind. Do I intend to return? Am I on an extended vacation? What ties do I leave behind? A home? Family? Financial assets? Expat is remaining connected to the past home. Immigrant is looking forward, moving TO a new home, making a new home, committing to the new home. Immigrant is also how others who live in the new country think of me (I hope), coming INto their homeland. To be an expat is to hold onto the past connection. To be an immigrant is to embrace the new home and even make efforts to become part of that community. It's my intent to make the transition from expat to immigrant. Thanks for raising the topic.
In 1983, I went overseas to work as an expat in Hong Kong. Most expats living there were married, sending their kids to the American School and it had that white privileged bow wrapped around their journey. As for me, I was fresh out of graduate school having learned Mandarin Chinese and single. I was fortunate to have been sent overseas by my employer and knew it would be temporary. I was not an immigrant as I knew this was a temporary move for me that lasted 7 1/2 years.
Thank you both for giving us so much to discuss and think about our futures.
I love you!
Great post. It just doesn’t sit right to call myself an expat. I’ve adopted immigrant.
I feel your pain about the US. Having lived in many countries, I can say that it seems that some countries are only better temporarily. Particularly I notice this in South America. In twenty years a country can go from a wealthy and healthy society and culture to violent revolution. In my study of this it seems there is a recurring pattern called "turnings" where nations and cultures go from wealthy and free to poor and despotic. This Yale Professor summarizes it well, https://youtu.be/slxk5YATULM?t=2
Interesting post...and language matters. I would not equate immigrant and refugee - and though the image of expats from pre-WW2 does imply means etc, I would have a hard time calling myself a refugee, knowing that there are 84 million people worldwide that have been forced from their homes due to violence, conflict, and persecution. And the EU is doing its damndest to ensure that those who are so desperate for a better life (from areas other than North America) do not land on European soil.
Humanitarian rescue boats in the Mediterranean have trouble finding ports to land while rescuing people from boats unsuitable for crossing, fleeced of all their money for the trip, and many working on those rescue boats are being prosecuted (by EU countries) for their humanitarian work. And Europe's grand bargain with Turkey and Libya are nothing short of immoral.
Having a US (or EU or UK) passport is an unearned privilege beyond most of the world's wildest dreams. I was approved for residency in Portugal by having to prove I could support myself against the Portuguese minimum wage - that was not a great hurdle, even on social security. I appreciate this country so much for so many things but their D7 visa was an economic boom for Portugal - and I'm glad, its a country that deserves to thrive but how many of us immigrants have it so much better than most of the citizens here?
Maybe I see refugee as someone without much choice to flee from their home country - where means doesn't enter into the equation, only desperation and threat. I've worked in too many countries with displaced and refugees struggling for survival and watched the US and EU close its doors to people from countries that have been exploited/colonized by US/EU/UK for centuries for their resources.
Even though I hate, as a lesbian, feminist, anti-racist, what is going on in the US, the fact that I am able to relocate here is a choice - and I feel conflicted that I am leaving the fight for democracy, fairness, to others who don't have the humble means I do. I rationalize it thinking it is up to the young people in US to decide what kind of country they want to live in - and I can donate to causes and vote but it's their turn to be in the streets.
So I can agree on being an immigrant, rather than expat, but I am not a refugee.