This article first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
I think there are more people trying to get out of the US than into it.
It’s not just the virus. People tend not to travel during a long-term severely depressed world economy. These bozos lie to the public, but they know what the future brings.
The total number of expats renouncing citizenship in the second half of 2019 was shocking. In quarter three, just 183 US expats renounced . In quarter four, 261 Americans gave up their citizenship . … Since FATCA, and especially around the time of the last American presidential election, numbers had skyrocketed.
Trump predicted that the coronavirus “will go away” and that a vaccine will be available before the end of the year. But internally, the memo shows, the government is planning for the pandemic to drastically reduce international travel to the U.S. through at least 2022
There is always the shadow rebuttal isn’t there.
Well, would YOU want to go to a country where Donald Trump was president?
That’s pretty tough to do nowadays as well.
Even if one were to travel to one of the few countries that still allows Americans entry, if you have an expired passport, you’re not going anywhere. The State Department stopped processing passports (except for life or death emergencies) in March, and just started processing them again at the end of July…but with overwhelming backlogs and significant delays.
I thought Putin was President?
Four years, and we’re a shithole country. Once again, thanks, Trump voters. You really owned us libs that time.
I have multiple siblings in Australia who’ve looked into doing exactly this. It’s not just about Donnie, since the United States is one of the few countries that require you to file tax returns on worldwide income, even if you’ve been out of the country for years (or even decades). There was a time that the perceived benefit of a US passport made the bullshit worthwhile, but Donnie has pushed a lot over the edge.
The flip side, though is that it’s actually a non-trivial task. Apparently there’s a significant cost (they’ve apparently recently raised the fee to $2,350), the consulate wants you to come in for meetings (one brother said “I guess they’d try to talk me out of it?”, another suggested that they’d be looking at a trip to the gulag on an unmarked flight). All in all, it’s a process that definitely takes a while.
The good news from Oz is that pretty much everyone who was considering it is now determined to vote against Donnie, so decided to hang on so they could do their part. I think the Republicans are going to be truly surprised by the depth of the anger and resistance they’ve invoked.
Roll on, Nov. 3rd…
Oh please, oh please!
From your finger tips to the goddess’s temples.
Two key things (among many)
A Senate Democratic aide said on condition of anonymity that congressional officials for months had raised concerns with State Department leadership about the impending budget crunch. Until recently, the agency’s top officials were “oblivious or not caring.”
And then this
if Congress cannot make up a $1.2 billion shortfall by the end of August.
Oh, wait, the Senate is in recess until September. Never mind.
It’s a plan, not a prediction, when the ones doing the forecasting are in control of visa approvals.
OMG! Mexico is going to pay for building a wall.