Election Day Result Reaction: Move or Stay?

Gigi Duncan ‘20

Freedom: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint [1]. For the past 227 years, the American people have elected the President under a free and democratic system. Though nothing has changed regarding this system, dissatisfied people throughout the country have now stated that they are emigrating from the United States to countries like Canada. This is all because Donald Trump won the election on November 8, and they are not content with a Trump presidency.

Famous Hollywood names such as Bryan Cranston, Amy Schumer, Samuel L. Jackson, Miley Cyrus, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, and Rosie O’Donnell claimed before Election Night that they would move out of the country if Donald Trump won. But the question remains as to whether these disgruntled Americans can justify leaving the country.

As election night unfolded, it looked increasingly likely that Trump would win. At about 10:30 P.M., the Canadian immigration site went down. After the election results came out, the site crashed completely. Though most kids at Ridge High School claim to have not cared about the election because of their dislike for both candidates, there was a shocking number of students who said they would move to Canada if Trump were to win, and even went as far as saying that they needed to learn the Canadian national anthem right away.

If you watched the third and final presidential debate, you’ll remember how angry Hillary Clinton became with Donald Trump when he didn’t immediately say that he would accept the election results because of the possibility that it could have been rigged against him.

“That’s horrifying,” Clinton said. “Let’s be clear about what he is saying and what that means. He is denigrating—he is talking down our democracy” [2].

But after Trump won in a shocking victory on election night, Clinton supporters became outraged. Though Clinton supposedly told the American people in the debate that it is “horrifying” that a candidate such as Donald Trump wouldn’t immediately accept the results, many college students and others rallied in different cities, shouting the phrase: “Not my president!” and in some cases even inciting violence.

According to Brian Pescatore ’20, “I think [emigrating] is very extreme because when Obama won twice, you didn’t see conservatives moving. It was a free election, in a free country, and if they don’t want a free country, then they can move themselves out. When I see people like Whoopi Goldberg talking about how Trump will bring slavery back, it shows just how little attention people are paying to what Trump is saying.”

But as people continue to riot and claim that they will move out of the United States on Inauguration Day simply because Donald Trump won the election against Hillary Clinton, they seem to forget that Canada severely enforces its immigration laws. Even though the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, entertained the idea of Americans fleeing a Trump presidency this past March, a poll released on Election Day showed that the overwhelming majority of the nation opposes easing immigration policies in the event of a Trump victory.

Currently, no matter which category of immigration a person applies to, most permanent resident applications take from six to twelve months to be processed. Some can be a couple of months, or could even take a few years to be processed. Immigrating to Canada depends on a person’s local visa office, and background and security checks concerning factors such as previous military service, foreign trips, and membership in political organizations are necessary.

Overall, many Americans have said that they would move to different countries if Trump won. But others believe that people should stop complaining about the election and try to voice their opinions in a reasonable and mannerly fashion instead of rioting, cutting classes, and packing their bags. They should learn to appreciate our democracy and how it works, and actually take the time to research the countries that they are presumably going to before blurting out that they are moving.

George Washington once said this: “The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” Washington was completely correct in saying this, but how can we put the fate of our beloved democracy in the people’s hands if they’re just going to ignore all of its benefits and move out because of a Trump presidency?

We should not abandon or abuse the democracy that our Founding Fathers worked so hard to obtain through their commitment of the idea of a free country. Rather, the American people should treasure the system our country has been run under for over two hundred years and consider staying and educating themselves on the concept of freedom, instead of leaving just because of another election.

[1] google.com
[2] The New York Times
[3] Huffington Post