| Share it

ADVERTISEMENT

DETROIT – Tens of thousands of U.S. citizens returned from Canada this week following four-year to eight-year hiatuses from their homeland aimed at avoiding George Bush’s presidency.

United States border officials estimate that on Tuesday between 90,000 and 140,000 U.S. citizens re-entered the country for the first time in at least four years and expect that trend to continue throughout the week as data show that in the fall of 2000 more than 1.9 million Americans, in the event of George Bush’s election, threatened to move to Canada, with another 1.1 million forming similar claims in 2004.

Those moving back, most aged 26 to 30, are pleased to once again rejoin the United States after moving to Canada in early 2001, following declarations on and before Election Day in November 2000 that they would flee to the neighboring nation before they saw George Bush inaugurated.

In Detroit, many Americans who had sought refuge in Winnipeg, Manitoba made their way across the border during the first official day under a new president. The mood was generally upbeat, and one of relief and reflection.

“I really didn’t think Al Gore could lose to [George Bush],” said Kurt McNeely, who was a freshman engineering student at the University of Illinois and a member of the school’s Hacky Sack team when he immigrated to Winnipeg. “Then I was really hoping the whole Florida thing would work out, but I said I would move to Canada if Bush won, so I felt I had to follow my well-formed and logical convictions.”

McNeely echoes the sentiments of the thousands upon thousands of others who stood behind their migratory assertions, showing their clear fortitude and commitment to a set of ideals.

“Obviously I had to go,” said Emily Keevan, whose 48 credit hours toward a degree in philosophy at Marquette University failed to transfer to the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. “What kind of message would it send if I made those claims and remained in the country? Through my decision, and the decision of thousands of other liberals to move to Canada, I think we changed this country for the better.”

Keevan said she was relieved for the latest generation of young liberals, as they will avoid a move to Canada following democratic candidate Barack Obama’s election to the White House. Would she have returned to the U.S. in the event McCain won? “I put in my time. A McCain administration would have been left up to the next wave of activists willing to leave their lives behind in a steadfast demonstration of relevant, noticeable political absence.”

Keevan and other liberal Americans were not faced with that choice, however.

“Finally, we have a president we can be proud of, one who has broken down racial barriers, and I think that proves our democratic system works in the end,” added Keevan, who was unable to vote for the first African-American president after failing to request an absentee ballot by the required date.

However, some returnees expressed regret over their ultimatums. Sarah Honeycutt had hoped to finish her senior year at Wesleyan College when her principled opinions forced her to move north of the border. “It’s true that I did not want to move to Canada, and I wish I had never said I would [move] if Bush was elected,” said Honeycutt. “But how else could I show my disapproval for the policies of George Bush in a way that would make the nation take notice?”

Border crossings throughout the nation saw a bottleneck of vehicles Inauguration Day. Traffic at the U.S. border in Blaine, Wash. on Tuesday backed up for several miles as more than 40,000 citizens re-entered there, causing rejoining Americans to wait three to six extra hours before returning to their home nation. “It’s not so bad,” said a former Seattle resident of waiting in traffic to cross back into Washington. “This really isn’t much different from the rest of the time I’ve spent in Canada.”

Historically a refuge for democratic-leaning Americans, in the past Canada has hosted hordes of self-exiled Americans who sought to avoid the military draft during the Vietnam War and the second term of Reagan’s presidency. For now, migration to Canada seems to have come to a halt, as liberal Americans hold hope for the future of the U.S. And what about dissenting republicans? You will not find them in Canada. Unable to find an alternative nation far enough to the right in the political spectrum, instead right wingers traditionally have relied on taking asylum in the United States’ Great Plains.  

Send this story to a friend