Many parents are seeing the ‘writing on the wall’ and are hurriedly leaving Donald Trump’s America, and DailyMail.com can reveal their reasons why.
When Katie Berg, her husband Ted, and their children pulled up to the US-Canada border at 3:30pm on March 3 to claim asylum, even the border agents seemed confused and informed them that Americans are rarely ever given refuge in the country.
But the Berg family was desperate and proceeded northward to London, Ontario, anyway.
‘It was time to leave,’ Katie, who is an Army veteran and who doesn’t describe herself as political, told the DailyMail.com. ‘This is not a hissy fit.
‘If you are not white, not male, you’re going to be a target,’ the mom said. ‘It’s literally going to be Nazi Germany.’
Their biggest concerns were their kids, especially their transgender and gender-fluid children who are 13 and 12, respectively.
The Illinois family began thinking about their move in November after Trump won and Katie pulled her children from school the day after the election.
The decision wasn’t easy for a number of reasons – they had just bought their ‘dream home’ in the blue state; they didn’t – and still don’t – have US passports; and they had wanted to wait until they got their tax return before picking up their lives.
Katie Berg, her husband Ted, and five of their children are currently in the middle of seeking asylum in Canada after fleeing Illinois on March 3. The parents worry for their transgender and gender-fluid children, who are 13 and 12 respectively
Randall Cole, 55, (right) took his 15-year-old son, Sam (middle), who is autistic, and his partner Wyatt (left) to Ottawa in June 2024 on his work visa. ‘As a gay family with kids, it began feeling unsafe,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘Everyone has their own sense of what they can tolerate’
Jay Dupuis, who declined to give his political affiliation, moved his family to the UK in July 2024 after he grew tired of his children’s safety in school. ‘It’s not about me anymore, it’s about my family,’ the Louisiana native told DailyMail.com (pictured: Jay and wife Jodie)
But as they saw the president step into his second term and watched how the 78-year-old leader and Vice President JD Vance treated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – despite not being fully prepared to leave the country – they decided it was time to go.
‘Zelensky was the final straw,’ Katie told the DailyMail.com. ‘It was going to get really bad, really quickly.
‘That’s basically why we left, for our kids.’
Their transgender son, Grayson, could no longer be known by he/him pronouns and he had no legal protection to remain a male as one of the president’s executive orders declared the US will only recognize gender at birth.
Her gender-fluid child would also face similar issues.
‘They’re kids, but they’re also people too,’ Katie told the DailyMail.com. ‘We’re just leaving to make a better life for our children… If my children can grow up safe, that’s all that matters.
‘My gut said I needed to leave.’
So she and her Marine veteran husband packed up five of their children, abandoned their home, one of their cars, and the very country they both served and set off for the border.
Randall worries his family will have to move again if Trump makes Canada the 51st State
Early morning in the town of Banff, Banff National Park, the Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada. Americans have told DailyMail.com how they are fleeing to Canada to escape Trump’s America
‘It’s heartbreaking,’ she said. ‘[Trump’s] just trying to protect the rich, not American citizens.’
Now, they face the asylum process and neither have any idea if their request will be granted, despite being expedited for being Americans, nor do they have a backup plan.
They’ve already undergone ‘deep’ background checks even to be allowed into the country, as well as, been fingerprinted and undergone medical exams.
They are currently waiting to go before the Immigration and Refugee Board to present their case and prove to the Canadian government that they are not safe anywhere in the US.
‘It’s a lot,’ Katie, who said they are looking into getting an immigration lawyer, told DailyMail.com.
Even those seeking work visas don’t have it much easier and one Kentucky family is worried Canada might not stay safe enough for them as Trump continues to suggest making his northern neighbor the 51st state.
Psychotherapist Randall Cole, 55, took his 15-year-old son, Sam, who is autistic, and his partner Wyatt to Ottawa in June 2024, leaving behind their 18-year-old son Ben, who choose to stay behind in Louisville, Kentucky.
Despite ‘feeling pretty safe’ in Louisville – which is one of the rare blue areas in the ‘ruby red conservative ocean’ that is the Southern state – they decided to move before the election.
The Bergs lived in a blue state, while the Coles lived in one of the rare blue areas in the ‘ruby red conservative ocean’ of Kentucky (pictured: 2024 election map)
‘We saw the writing on the wall,’ Randall told the DailyMail.com, admitting that despite his hope, he didn’t see Kamala Harris winning the election.
‘As a gay family with kids, it began feeling unsafe,’ he said in a phone interview.
As a skilled worker and fluent in French, Randall was able to obtain a work visa in Ontario and took his family with him.
‘I’m just tired of it,’ Randall, who is a dual US-British citizen, said. ‘I just want to live my life in peace with my family.
‘Everyone has their own sense of what they can tolerate.’
He admitted the process wasn’t cheap, nor was it was it easy, but ‘we absolutely don’t regret it.’
They decided Canada was their best option as Wyatt is American and the ‘values of the country match us as individuals.’
Randall and his son are dual citizens, and his two children spent most of their lives growing up in the United Kingdom.
Katie said her family’s final straw was the way President Trump and VP JD Vance treated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. ‘Zelensky was the final straw,’ Katie told DailyMail.com. ‘It was going to get really bad, really quickly’
They are currently waiting to go before the board to present their case, where they will have to prove to the Canadian government that they are not safe anywhere in the US
When they returned to the US, Sam struggled in school and they were offered little help. His son also found active shooter drills traumatizing, and Randall was tired of having to practically jailbreak his children out of school for appointments.
‘It’s like breaking into Fort Knox to take your kid to a dental appointment,’ he told the DailyMail.com.
Randall, who grew up in Indiana, also believes Americans were ‘really naïve’ when it came to electing Trump a second time.
‘It was very clear on what he believes,’ Randall told the DailyMail.com.
The father-of-two also doesn’t like the ‘toxic masculinity’ he sees playing out in the States, and even went as far as saying that the ‘epitome of this is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,’ the White House.
‘Canada doesn’t have that,’ he said. ‘[And] I don’t have to worry about my kid being shot.’
Despite creating a safe haven in Canada, Randall and his family are beginning to worry the North American country won’t stay safe for long.
‘I have plan B, C and D in the works,’ Randall admitted. ‘It’s even crazy that we have to think of [this].
Randall’s son Ben, 18, (pictured) stayed in Kentucky by choice. As a skilled worker and fluent in French, Randall was able to obtain a work visa in Ontario, and the family is hoping after his three-year visa expires that they can get permanent residency – as long as Trump stays out
‘This isn’t Trump being a joke,’ the father-of-two said.
The Midwestern father said his family is considering a move back to the UK if need be, but he would be unable to practice psychotherapy there. They are also considering Ireland, but they’re grasping onto hope Canada will be their home.
After his three-year work visa expires, the family will try for permanent residency, he told the DailyMail.com, as long as Trump keeps his hands off Canada.
One thing they’re not considering is moving back to the US.
‘Oh God, no!’ Randall told the DailyMail.com when asked. ‘I wouldn’t move back.’
He believes the US has been ‘forever changed’ by the recent political events and said Americans ‘kind of sleep-walked into this.’
As for Jay Dupuis – who declined to share his political affiliation – his children were his main priority when he and his British wife, Jodie, packed up their bags and moved to Northern England in July 2024.
‘It’s not about me anymore, it’s about my family,’ the Louisiana native, who performs as an Elvis impersonator, told the DailyMail.com.
Canada has ‘not seen a notable change in overall asylum volumes so far this year,’ the IRCC told DailyMail.com, but said Americans have several routes to choose from if they would like to immigrate northward (pictured: US-Canada border)
The turning point for him was the Nashville shooting at Covenant Christian School, where six students and three teachers were killed by Audrey Hale. His son, who did not attend the school, would have been in first grade at the time.
‘This is kind of crazy that this happens so much,’ he remembered his wife, who lived in the States for eight years, telling him.
His own son’s school near Myrtle Beach went into lockdown not long after and it ‘freaked’ the parents out, leaving Jay hurriedly pulling his child, now eight, out of class.
‘Things like this don’t get better with time,’ he told the DailyMail.com. ‘It was going to get worse… But I don’t know what the government can do.’
Jay didn’t feel like the Joe Biden Administration was doing enough to solve the issue, and although he thinks Trump’s camp is ‘trying to do something,’ he said he still would have left the country even if that decision was made today.
‘Not enough has changed,’ he said. ‘It’s not like that here in England. You can run from a knife, but you can’t run from a gun, you know?’
The father, who grew up near New Orleans, was tired of worrying about his son’s safety and what the state of education would be like when his three-year-old daughter entered school.
‘That’s why I moved, I wanted a better life for my children,’ he told the DailyMail.com.
As for Jay Dupuis (pictured) – who declined to share his political affiliation – his children were his main priority when he moved
Canada judges asylum claims individually judge each case based on protection needs, including based on ‘race, religion, political opinion, nationality, or membership in social groups, including LGBTQI+’
He also wanted more parental control over his children’s education and questioned certain practices, such as drag queens reading to children.
‘It doesn’t take much to change a kid’s mind,’ he said in a phone interview. ‘[It should be] up to parents how you’re going to teach my son.’
However, he said he would be fine with it if the majority of Americans approved of it and believes US citizens should get to vote on these issues.
He also felt that the US education system was ‘dumbing down’ America and his son was depressed in school. Now, in the UK, his son is ‘thriving’ and has many friends and ‘loves’ attending classes.
Jay’s son also got more individualized help in England, especially when he transferred schools and needed to catch up.
His wife is happier too as she is closer to family, and seeing his brood happy ‘makes me happy.’
Jay immigrated to the country under a spousal visa, which he said wasn’t hard to get, while his children applied for British passports under their mother’s citizenship.
All they did was fill out a form before the hopped on a cruise from New York to England to make it ‘adventurous for our children.’
Overall, Jay said he has no plans on moving his family back to the US – despite growing up there – unless the country ‘drastically’ changes both in education and safety.
A record number of US citizens applied for UK citizenship after Trump’s win. More than 1,700 of the 6,100 Americans who applied in 2024 requested UK citizenship in the last three months of the year
American Immigration in the Trump Era
So far, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency has received a total of 10,575 asylum applications in January at the border, data shows.
The majority of claims come through Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
It is unclear how many of those applications stem from Americans fleeing the US.
Canada has ‘not seen a notable change in overall asylum volumes so far this year,’ the IRCC told the DailyMail.com.
Asylum seekers have to prove a ‘real fear of persecution or face serious harm, such as torture or cruel treatment, in their home country or where they usually live,’ to be granted refuge in Canada, the IRCC said.
Canada will individually judge each case based on protection needs, including based on ‘race, religion, political opinion, nationality, or membership in social groups, including LGBTQI+.’
In 2024, the UK received 108,000 asylum applications, an 18 percent increase compared to the year before, according to government statistics.
The number of people claiming asylum has nearly doubled since 2021 in the UK.
It is unclear how many Americans this includes.
However, a record number of US citizens applied for UK citizenship after Trump’s win.
More than 1,700 of the 6,100 Americans who applied in 2024 requested UK citizenship in the last three months of the year.
