the attitude with arnie arnesen the Monday edition March 2
Arnie Arnesen
In its 250th year, is America, land of immigration, becoming a country of emigration?
Last year the U.S. experienced something that hasn’t definitively occurred since the Great Depression: More people moved out than moved in. The Trump administration has hailed the exodus—negative net migration—as the fulfillment of its promise to ramp up deportations and restrict new visas. Beneath the stormy optics of that immigration crackdown, however, lies a less-noticed reversal: America’s own citizens are leaving in record numbers, replanting themselves and their families in lands they find more affordable and safe. ,,,
The new American dream, for some of its citizens, is to no longer live there. In the cobblestoned streets of Lisbon, so many Americans are snapping up apartments that the newest arrivals complain they mostly hear their own language—not Portuguese. One of every 15 residents in Dublin’s trendy Grand Canal Dock district was born in the U.S., according to realtors, higher than the percentage of Americans born in Ireland during the 19th-century influx following the Potato Famine. In Bali, Colombia and Thailand, the strains of housing American remote workers paid in dollars have inspired locals to mount protests against a wave of gentrification.
On a conference call last month hosted by Expatsi, a relocation company, almost 400 Americans signed up to learn how to move to Albania. The former Stalinist state offers a special visa allowing U.S. citizens to live and work there, with no tax on foreign income for a year, no questions asked.
“Previously, the Americans leaving were super-adventurous and well-credentialed,” said Expatsi founder Jen Barnett, a 54-year-old Alabama native who moved to Yucatán, Mexico, in 2024. “Now they’re ordinary people, like me,” she said as she ticked through growth numbers. In 2024 the company organized three group scouting trips for clients; this year it will be 57, she said: “Our goal is to move one million Americans.”
rethink the week
talkers
Lincoln Mitchell teaches political science and public policy at Columbia University. He is the author of nine books and his writings have appeared at CNN, Reuters, the New York Times, NBC, the San Francisco Examiner and numerous other media platforms. For more of Lincoln’s work you can subscribe to his Substack “Kibitzing with Lincoln” at /lincolnmitchell.substack.com/.”
Jamie Rowen is an associate professor of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the founding director of UMass' Center for Justice, Law, and Societies. Her work focuses on both domestic and international criminal law. Her book, Worthy of Justice: The Politics of Veterans Treatment Courts in Practice published by Stanford University Press in December 2025.
Lawrence “Larry” Hamm is a lifelong activist who has been involved in grassroots movements for more than 55 years. He is the founder and current chairman of the New Jersey based People’s Organization For Progress (POP), established more than four decades ago to work for racial, social, and economic justice. Much of his work is chronicled in his recent book Lawrence Hamm: A Life In The Struggle, co-authored with Annette Alston. He is the proud father of three daughters and grandfather of two grandsons.
Stephen Pimpare is Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Master in Public Policy program at Vermont Law and Graduate School. He is the author of four books, numerous articles, and the Host of the New Books Network's public policy channel.
topics:
U.S. tells embassy staff in Israel to leave now if they want amid Trump threats to attack Iran The message was conveyed in an email from Ambassador Mike Huckabee that was sent to the U.S. mission Friday and seen by NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/us-allows-embassy-staff-leave-israel-citing-safety-risks-iran-threats-rcna260929
Trump’s war on fraud is political genius https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5757400-trump-vp-vance-anti-fraud/
Donald's SOTU honored a puck yet failed to acknowledge the women in the balcony who got fucked!
Trump administration enacts 6-month moratorium on Minnesota Medicaid payments https://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/5758174-trump-administration-enacts-6-month-moratorium-on-minnesota-medicaid-payments/
How America Chose Not to Hold the Powerful to Account Our national project of elite impunity https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/elite-accountability-powerful-impunity/686134/?gift=Je3D9AQS-C17lUTOnl2W8ImCAJzfV2R8UlH_eHGQVjM&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Mamdani charms Trump, pushes housing and gets ICE detainee released Axios v
Mamdani deepens collaboration with Trump in second White House meeting WSWS
‘You’ll have to ask my husband:’ House Republicans say Hillary Clinton punted questions on Epstein Politico
Tensions simmer over Howard Lutnick, Trump’s favorite dealmaker Politico
Palantir Pays Zero Federal Income Tax Despite Explosive Growth, Largely Due to Trump Tax Law https://itep.org/palantir-pays-zero-tax-trump-tax-law-ice/
FEMA disaster relief fund nearly empty, officials say Semafor
The First Couple of a Dysfunctional DHS A forthcoming book reveals new details about Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/02/dhs-couple-noem-lewandowski/686153/?gift=B6bk5ZW31izDqZcccIbJkrqTE4gLI5XpBvxUHnujomA
Trump’s Deportation Crackdown Is Hurting Tourism Fear of aggressive deportation raids is deterring foreign visitors, leading to a reduction in hours for workers and lost revenue. https://prospect.org/2026/02/27/trump-deportation-ice-immigration-tourism/
The new definition of Push Pull. PUSH: Trump's anti science anti health agenda slashing research grants and firing thousands from NIH, CDC, NASA, EPA... PULL: the EU has set aside 500 million euros to lure top scientists to the continent.
Like Clockwork, the Front-Runner for the Democratic Nomination Just Dropped a MemoirI read it. We’re doomed. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/02/gavin-newsom-book-democratic-presidential-race-biden-trump.html
Why Congress tried to dodge a vote on war with Iran. Iran hawks are maneuvering to have their war without their fingerprints on it https://www.salon.com/2026/02/27/why-congress-tried-to-dodge-a-vote-on-war-with-iran/
Why Crockett v. Talarico Has Come Down to the Wire in Texas Journalist Justin Miller explains why both the Democratic and Republican U.S. Senate primaries in Texas are are so close. https://newrepublic.com/article/207129/crockett-v-talarico-come-wire-texas
D. ARNIE ARNESEN
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