Every four years, some liberal Americans threaten to leave the country if a Republican wins the presidency. Canada has become almost a joke—or maybe a fantasy—in certain left-leaning circles, not just a country but an escape hatch, a next life waiting if the election goes the “wrong” way. But some liberals insist that they’re not joking this time: They are very scared, and very ready to leave if Donald Trump is reelected.

I spoke with Americans from different backgrounds and communities about their plans to emigrate if Trump wins. Some are worried about their physical well-being, others about the future of same-sex marriage, and still others are distressed about the possibility of large-scale violence in the aftermath of his victory—or even his defeat. How many Americans are seriously considering leaving is unknown, but a New York Times callout to readers over the summer generated some 5,000 responses from across the political spectrum, including people who had already moved and others who were planning to. Whatever the true number, these Americans’ plans are evidence of the unusually tumultuous and threatening period the country now finds itself in. Some of them certainly will not follow through; emigrating is not easy, and many would lose benefits both hard and soft—Medicaid, jobs, friendships, familiarity—by leaving. But even so, their fear is great enough that they are seriously considering it.

I am a refugee. I came to this country from Afghanistan, in 2021. There, women have lost all basic rights, including the right to education. There is no longer freedom of speech. The economic system has collapsed. Daily life is permeated by an atmosphere of fear. Trump is a different sort of threat—an obviously lesser threat than the Taliban, I would argue. But I still empathize with would-be émigrés. I can very much understand the need to leave a place that no longer feels safe, and I believe that their concerns are genuine.

[Mira Kamdar: Why I’m glad I left America]

Pamela Reading-Smith, a Democratic activist from South Carolina, told me she believes that most Americans are underestimating what is at stake in this election. “He is going to turn this country into an authoritarian country,” she said of Trump. She fears that if he comes to power, violence will follow, and he will “crack down on the media,” including this publication. “Once we lose the media,” she said, “who are the people of the country? They are no one, because they have no knowledge of what’s going on.” If Trump wins, she plans to move to Spain, where her son and his wife live.

Many of the people I spoke with told me they fear political violence. Cynthia, also from South Carolina, said: “My perspective is that he did encourage people to take over the Capitol. If Trump were to lose, I would be concerned about far more widespread violence.” She and her husband are considering moving to the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada, starting with six-month visas. They will stay in the Pacific Northwest of the United States around election time and make their final move from there. Tony Proscio, a 70-year-old from New York, told me that a second Trump presidency is one of several reasons that he and his husband may soon move to London, where they have visited many times and have a good number of friends. “When you’re two men married to each other, it’s not hard to imagine how that could go badly for you,” Tony told me by phone during a recent trip to London to meet with realtors. He said he was very worried about whether Obergefell v. Hodges, the decision that legalized same-sex marriage, can survive a future Supreme Court, if Trump makes yet more appointments.

Margaret, 83, a Floridian who is retired from medicine, said that if Trump wins, she will be leaving the country as soon as she can. Like Pamela, she is considering Spain. “I don’t trust him. I don’t think that he knows what he’s doing,” Margaret told me. “I just find the man’s behavior, his attitude toward women, shocking.” (Both Cynthia and Margaret asked that I not use their last names, as they live in deeply conservative areas and their views are unpopular.)

Kim Lawson, 63, from Newnan, Georgia, is also considering leaving if Trump wins. “He’s a very fluid liar, and I don’t share values that he has; he is demeaning and derogatory towards people. And I don’t want to listen to it for four more years,” she said. She and a group of her single friends are looking at Spain or Mexico for their possible relocation. Lawson pointed to Project 2025 as evidence of changes Trump might make to the country. “I don’t want to be part of it,” she told me.

Of course, many people who want to or even make plans to leave won’t actually do so in the end. It is hard to move to a different country, obtain residency, and build a new life, especially for those who don’t speak the local language. And moving can be politically and morally complicated; some may decide that they want to stay and fight Trump’s policies, working toward electing Democrats in other elections. “I personally can’t imagine giving up my country unless my family were starving, [or] if we were under threat of death,” Cynthia Lowe, a Democrat from South Carolina, told me, though she said she understood why other people who were more personally threatened by Trump’s policies, such as immigrants, would be quicker to go.

Most of the people I interviewed for this story are past retirement age; they have enough financial resources to consider moving abroad. Many younger citizens may not be able to do so, and may have additional challenges—building a career as an immigrant, the difficulties of living away from family—to consider.

From my perspective as a refugee to America, there is something surprising about all of this. For those outside the U.S., it can be hard to really see its challenges, to understand the intensity with which people living here fear for their country. This is a liberal nation. But for the people I spoke with, it will no longer be a place to call home if Trump returns to power. You cannot realize what is going on in America until you start living in America.

We Americans are a vulnerable and divided people. The election today isn’t just about choosing which politicians should lead us; this is only one issue before us. We have to decide what sort of country we want to be, and how we want to be understood—by ourselves, and by the world.

Domestic political differences are usually superficial and temporary. But the divide we’re seeing doesn’t seem like a momentary rift. We have to heal our deeper rifts and remember that we are one people. If we don’t address these rifts, we will be a country in perpetual crisis, suffering from economic instability and social turmoil. And we will be weak in the face of our actual adversaries. These adversaries know how to exploit our weaknesses. If we don’t try to bridge our internal differences, we’re handing our enemies a gift.

In the Army, I saw firsthand the power of unity in the most challenging possible circumstances. I served, fought, and sometimes risked my life alongside people who didn’t share my background or beliefs. We had no choice but to break down the walls that separated us, to set aside our differences and focus on what bound us together: our mission and our loyalty to one another. Those experiences taught me that respect and understanding aren’t luxuries—they’re survival skills. They’re what make us strong in the face of adversity. What I try today to convey to my fellow Americans, especially those who didn’t serve in uniform and didn’t learn on the battlefield that nothing at all really divides us, is that we need to spend much less time tangling ourselves up in anger and distrust.

[Peter Wehner: How to prevent the worst from happening]

On the day in Afghanistan when I was wounded, and when three of my fellow soldiers, and a  civilian American-government employee, made the ultimate sacrifice, nothing divided me from my fellow citizens. Nothing at all. But back home, we are driven by a cycle of rhetoric that pushes us further apart. We’ve allowed ourselves to be pulled into silos of belief, where headlines and sound bites define who we are and whom we see as “other.” But we cannot let these forces tear us apart. We must find a way back to one another, not just for our children’s sake but for our own survival as a nation.

I learned something else in battle: We are all dependent on one another. I trusted people of different religions, different backgrounds, different beliefs—and they trusted me. We understood that we were one unit, and that we had to refuse to let anyone or anything break that bond. What is true for an Army unit is true for the nation: We must not let anyone break us apart.

This isn’t just about politics. It’s about our identity. We can’t afford to lose sight of what makes us strong: our ability to work through our differences, to respect one another even when we disagree. Our enemies know this. They know that the easiest way to weaken America is to fuel division from within, to make us believe that we’re enemies rather than partners. If we want to keep them from using this division against us, we have to reclaim the value of national unity.

Our greatest strength lies not in agreement, because we’re always going to disagree. We don’t even have to like one another. I learned in the Army that liking one another matters less than loving one another. We have to love what we have in common, even if we disagree. Our strength is in our shared commitment to one another as Americans. We have to listen to one another, we have to commit to not tearing one another down, and we have to show one another that we’re bigger than our differences.

After the votes are counted, we’ll have a choice to make. We can let our anger fester, exacerbating the kind of division that benefits only those who would see us weak. Or we can take this moment to turn toward one another, to seek understanding over judgment, to stop letting anyone—politicians, pundits, news channels—tell us whom we should hate or fear.

[Read: Election Day is just the beginning]

This isn’t easy work. It takes courage to open ourselves to perspectives that challenge our own. But we owe it to ourselves, to our neighbors, and, yes, to the next generation, to try. Our enemies would love nothing more than to see us fail. Let’s deny them that satisfaction. Let’s be the nation we know we can be—strong, resilient, and united, not in perfect agreement, but in purpose and respect for one another.

Now is the time to rise above what divides us, and reclaim our common goal. This election is not an ending, but a beginning—a moment to choose a path of empathy, resilience, and respect. The challenges we face—from threats abroad to struggles here at home—demand a unity that transcends politics. We cannot afford to see one another as enemies; our true strength lies in our ability to hold together even in disagreement. America was built on the resilience and diversity of its people, on a willingness to struggle and compromise to find common ground. Let us commit, today and every day, to building a nation where our differences deepen our resolve, where our shared purpose makes us strong. If we truly believe in America, we must believe in one another. Our future depends on it.