I was interviewed by Le Devoir recently, here is the English version:
The American LGBTQ+ Exodus to Canada Has Begun
By Sarah R. Champagne
While Donald Trump courts millionaires with a golden $5 million immigration card, a clear exodus of LGBTQ+ families has already begun. According to lawyers and organizations, the number of Americans seeking to move has skyrocketed since his return to the White House, with Canada emerging as a preferred destination.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says David LeBlanc, an immigration lawyer and director of Ferreira-Wells Immigration. He reports receiving about a hundred inquiries per week.
The surge in interest was already apparent on the eve of last November’s decisive election, but now, people are truly ready to move—and fast. Up to 90% of his clients eligible for a Canadian immigration program have already started the process, he claims.
Based in Toronto, his firm considers itself a pioneer in LGBTQ+ immigration, having served the community for three decades. Many people are asking whether they can apply for asylum in Canada, he says, though that remains unlikely at this time. “This is quickly becoming the hottest topic in our profession right now,” LeBlanc adds.
“Right now, among those most likely to move from idea to action, LGBTQ+ families are number one,” confirms Evan Green, a senior immigration lawyer and partner at Green and Spiegel, also based in Toronto. His team has received “considerably more” inquiries since Trump’s return to power—even compared to his previous term—and the sense of urgency is much more pronounced.
No State Is Spared
“Even here in California, the political climate is becoming increasingly hostile, with clear attacks on trans rights at all levels of government,” notes Kathie Moehlig, executive director of TransFamily Support Services, a San Diego-based organization.
She reports that most families are too “paralyzed” to speak to the media. Only the wealthiest or most privileged can even begin the process of relocating—especially to Canada, she points out.
Families where one parent holds Canadian citizenship have the quickest path across the border, says Green.
A Heavy Decision
Selling their home, quitting their job, uprooting their children, saying goodbye to friends—LGBTQ+ families feel the pressure to act quickly.
“What alarms me most is how fast they’re implementing anti-trans policies. I’m even afraid that children could be taken away from their families,” says Marisa, a mother from Chicago, a city known for its strong Democratic leanings. She requested anonymity out of fear that speaking out could affect her Canadian immigration case or bring repercussions upon her trans child.
With her husband—who was born in Winnipeg—Marisa has decided to move to Toronto with their four young children this summer, before the next school year begins. Their home will be listed for sale within days. They were able to quickly obtain Canadian citizenship certificates for their children, thanks to their father’s Canadian birthright.
Despite deep roots in her community, where she works with several nonprofit organizations, Marisa feels the urgency to leave. Her paid job, as she specifies, involves developing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools in the Chicago suburbs.
Like many LGBTQ+ individuals, Marisa and her family anxiously awaited the presidential election results before making their decision. By the next morning, their choice was clear.
Her family, she explains, is “multiracial, with a non-binary child and a mother working in DEI.” “We check all the wrong boxes,” she laments.
During his inauguration speech, Trump doubled down on a campaign talking point: “As of today, the official policy of the U.S. government will be that there are only two sexes, male and female,” he declared. That same evening, he signed an executive order to that effect.
The consequences of this order include the removal of the “X” gender marker on official documents, including passports. Federally funded transition-related healthcare is also at risk, as half of U.S. states have already partially or fully banned these medical treatments in recent years—forcing tens of thousands of people to relocate to more accepting states.
Losing the South, Finding the North
“These are families and couples who have lost the feeling of being at home,” says immigration lawyer David LeBlanc.
The day before our interview, a Texas couple called him to expedite their immigration process. During a peaceful LGBTQ+ rights march in Houston, they found themselves surrounded by a “militia” dressed in camouflage and armed.
“We’ll pay whatever it takes to get out of this hell,” they told LeBlanc—an appeal “clearly driven by fear.”
Marisa worries that her children are already “immersed in an anti-trans, anti-diversity rhetoric.” “The consequences of Trump’s policies aren’t hypothetical. This isn’t just political theater. I work with immigrant families—parents are being deported. It’s incredibly difficult for anyone who is even slightly marginalized to feel safe,” she says.
Even politicians who previously supported trans youth rights—such as the governor of California—are now perceived as betraying the cause, according to Kathie Moehlig of TransFamily.
Like thousands of others, Marisa’s family hopes to reclaim a sense of “freedom and security.”
“I think a lot about the possibility—if it’s not already the case—that Canada will become a kind of sanctuary, a place where we can build positive communities,” she concludes.
