Between Ireland and the United States, a historical inversion of migratory flows

In 2025, nearly 10,000 American citizens immigrated to Ireland. This is twice as much as the previous year. The phenomenon is historic, as noted by the BBC: it is the first time that the number of Americans moving to Ireland has exceeded that of Irish people migrating to the United States.

“For centuries, millions of Irish people have migrated to the United States in search of work or a better life, and Americans of Irish descent are one of the country’s largest ethnic groups,” recalls the site of the British radio, mentioning the Irish ancestors of former American presidents John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden.

However, in the hours following Donald Trump’s election in 2024, the company Expatsi, which helps American citizens settle abroad, recorded on its website traffic equivalent to a month’s worth of requests in normal times. At the same time, passport applications for Irish passports in the United States increased by 10%, according to the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Is the reversal of migration flows between the two countries a mere accident or the beginning of a deeper trend? wonders the BBC.

Ireland, “a good place to live”

According to Irish novelist Colm Tóibín, who himself is based in the United States, Ireland reflects the political changes that have occurred in the two countries. Over the past few decades, Irish society, “once deeply conservative,” has become significantly more liberal and progressive following referendums on divorce, abortion, and same-sex marriage. “Everyone has realized that Ireland is a good place to live.”

In contrast, the United States “has taken a right turn” under the presidency of Donald Trump, who, since returning to power, has launched a broad campaign of repression against immigrants. “Ireland has significantly liberalized and taken a direction diametrically opposed to that of the United States,” confirms Kevin Wozniak, who left Boston in 2023 to take up a post at Maynooth University, near Dublin.

Colm Tóibín highlights the current dangers faced by many migrants in the United States. “Among the Irish people living in the United States who pay their taxes, own their homes, and have children in school, many entered the country with a tourist visa,” explains Colm Tóibín. “If ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] identified them, they would be arrested. It’s terrifying.”

The wave of returning to Ireland comes as the United States experienced more departures than arrivals last year, according to a report by the Brookings Institution. According to The Wall Street Journal, “at least 180,000 Americans” voluntarily left the United States in 2025. A unprecedented number, the newspaper indicates.