LINING UP

Americans Rush for Irish Passports in Record Numbers After Trump’s Win

The number of applications surged to its highest level in a decade.

A record number of U.S. citizens applied for Irish passports in November—the month of Donald Trump’s election victory. Irish law entitles anyone who can show they had a grandparent born in Ireland to apply for a passport, which gives the holder the right to live and work across the entire European Union. Last November saw the highest number of passport applications from the U.S. in a calendar month in ten years, according to Irish state broadcaster RTE, with 3,692 applications made from the U.S. that month alone. Erin Clayton, a U.S. citizen living in New Hampshire who has applied for an Irish passport, told RTE: “With the things that are going on in the U.S. right now with the new administration, it’s scary and I thought it would be smart to have just in case. I’d rather have it and not need it, than not have pursued it. I’m the daughter of an immigrant ... I am not who they’re targeting right now, but what does that mean? So, I just like I said, I just would rather be safe. Having the Irish passport would give me more freedom if I had to leave long term.”