Between a historically unfavourable job market, higher costs of living and a society that feels more polarised than ever, young Americans are coming of age at a time that feels far less promising than that of their parents. While recent generations have witnessed the furthering of civil rights, the opposite has been true for those in their teens and twenties today. Given the reversals on reproductive rights, the ongoing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and the criminalisation of DEI, America’s youth are at risk of inheriting a country that has fewer freedoms instead of more.

Much of this has been the doing of President Donald Trump, whose approval rating among young people has declined significantly. Though it hasn’t even been a full year since the second Trump administration came into office, each week seems to bring the arrival of another jarring news event, whether that be the deployment of the National Guard, ICE raids or acts of political violence. For a generation of young Americans who have already lived through Covid-19, an insurrection and a racial reckoning, these events are a continuation of a young adulthood marked by unprecedented times. 

“It just feels like we can’t win,” said Luisianna Cardoza, a 25-year-old Venezuelan-American living in New York. “Everything just feels like we’re going back in time. I’m constantly on edge.” This all begs the question – do young Americans still envision a future in the US? And, if not, what would be their breaking point? To find out, we asked nine young Americans to share the “final straw” that would cause them to plan their exit.

ESTHER KIM, 22, NEW YORK 

Personally, if, after this term, JD Vance or anyone from the Trump administration became president, I would need to get out of here. That would be my last straw, because I can’t do another four years with the same administration and witness a continuation of Trump’s “legacy” or policies. I feel there definitely needs to be change if that’s happening. That would be a big final straw.

AIDAN HAYES, 24, BOSTON 

I think post-2026 midterms, seeing a massive Republican supermajority come into power based on partisan guidelines is just not something that I’m here for. That’s not what democracy is, and that’s not necessarily a government that I would trust to serve the will of the people. As somebody who’s openly gay and in the LGBTQ+ community, I think that we have a lot to lose. We’ve seen members of our community, specifically trans people, become real targets of this administration, and it’s just not something that I can really see myself existing in, that ecosystem of authoritarianism and fascism.

EVA BARKETT, 23, NEW YORK 

I’ve thought about leaving the country many times, but I do think that, because I have the privilege to live in a metropolitan city, my experience is far different from that of those living in the South or any of the states that are more greatly affected. My parents live in Nashville, Tennessee, right now, and my mom does a lot of advocacy work for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. Seeing how much it affects those states differently, I think those are warnings. For me, my turning point would be when it starts to affect the more metropolitan cities, because we live in a bubble. I want to stay in the country and fight if I can, but if it starts to really take over New York City, and we see a shift in democracy in these metro places, that would be the breaking point where I’d feel like I’m in danger. But I do think for other people, especially those in states that are being more heavily affected, the time to leave was when Trump was elected.

I want to stay in the country and fight if I can, but if it starts to really take over New York City, that would be the breaking point where I’d feel like I’m in danger

MIA MAURI, 21, NEW YORK 

My final straw would definitely have to be something dealing with either overturning the 13th, 14th or 15th Amendment. Those are really, really important amendments when it comes to things like citizenship and the right to vote. We obviously saw what happened with Roe v. Wade, and if that could happen, it’s kind of scaring the general American population to feel like another amendment or anything else monumental like that could change as well.

MIKAL YONAS, 22, BERKELEY

I’m in a class at college called the Art of Resistance, and it’s a 15-person seminar. We’ve been talking a lot about the professors who, immediately after the election, chose to leave for Canada or the UK. But that’s not the reality for most people, including myself. I feel like the last straw for me that would seriously make me consider an exit is if something were to happen to my immediate family, my siblings – if their lives and their autonomy got infringed upon, that would make me seriously consider leaving.

It’s weird, because how much further can they go? If they started going after set-in-stone polices – birthright citizenship is one example, or turning back gay marriage – that would be a sign that the dominoes are starting to tumble

RYAN MO, 24, NEW YORK

While it is very difficult for me to say, as someone who has lived here my entire life, that any specific policy change would make me want to leave the US, if I or my family feared for our safety or had to worry about being apprehended by immigration enforcement agents, that would definitely motivate me to seriously consider looking elsewhere.

LOUIS*, 25, NEW YORK

I think a broader suspension of civil rights would probably be a turning point. Obviously, right now, people without status or iffy status are being targeted. But once more non-white, straight American people start being targeted, that’s probably when I would consider going somewhere else, just because it would just feel so unsafe. I don’t know what one policy change there could be, but if it just keeps getting more hostile, it just wouldn't feel like a place to continue building a life. It’s weird, because how much further can they go? If they started going after set-in-stone polices – birthright citizenship is one example, or turning back gay marriage – that would be a sign that the dominoes are starting to tumble. Who knows what’s next, right?

* Name has been changed