‘I had to leave or I would die’: A US trans man seeks refuge in another country

Elliot Hefty fled the United States in 2025, following the re-election of President Donald Trump and a transphobic attack. While he seeks refuge in The Netherlands, he continues to fight for trans rights in America. (Elliot Hefty/Karollyne Videira Hubert)

The Wall Street Journal reports that an estimated 150,000 U.S. citizens left America in 2025 – a negative net migration not seen since the Great Depression in 1929.

Elliot Hefty is among those expatriates. More specifically, he’s among the 45% of transgender Americans who want to leave the country, or have already done so, according to The Williams Institute at UCLA.

“ We are experiencing the equivalent of an LGBT refugee crisis within the United States, where people are either feeling compelled to flee their communities, flee their states, or in some cases flee the country,” said Professor Abbie Goldberg, a scholar who authored the study for The Williams Institute.