Should US Citizens Be Fleeing the Country?

The Marseillaise scene from Casablanca.

Nine months into Trump's second term and the big question is should sane, liberal people be planning to leave the US or would that be an overreaction? This has been a source of controversy and conflict between me and close friends. I don't believe my safety and freedom are in danger, that we're headed for a Third Reich or that becoming an expat is our only means of survival. But those close to me who disagree think we are in the equivalent of the Weimar Republic or the early days of Hitler's dark reign. They say it's only a matter of time before all our rights will be taken away and those who publicly disagree with the Orange Fascist will be rounded up and sent to El Salvador, South Sudan or Uganda. 

An American friend who lives in a foreign country recently received a call from a friend of his in a panic, expressing desperation about the need to leave the US as soon as possible. He knows of another couple who are planning to move to Panama from the US. We had a debate on whether these people are legitimately concerned or being hysterical. My expat pal pointed out people were being snatched off the street by masked ICE agents and John Bolton, a former high-ranking official, had his home raided by the FBI. Jews in 1930s Germany were having the same conversation we were and look what happened to them. I said yes, undocumented immigrants with no criminal records were being harassed and detained and the former National Security Advisor who had criticized Trump was the subject of unfair investigation. But I said that doesn't mean US citizens are going to be disappeared just because they are Jewish. The conclusion both parties reached was that there was not going to be a Nazi-like Holocaust. But that Trump is a threat to our democracy.

If you wanted to leave the country as a protest because you don't like the way Trump is running the government, that's an understandable, if somewhat extreme action, but I don't think we're not going to turn into 1930s Germany. Yes, undocumented aliens and people with visas are in trouble whether they have a criminal record or not (in the supermarket recently I heard a radio commercial with Kristi Noem, dog-murderer and Secy, of Homeland Security, touting the harsh immigration policy and urging all undocumented residents to turn themselves in for deportation and MAYBE they could return some day. It sent chills down my spine.)  But I don't think white, well-off US citizens should be panicking and packing their bags.

On a related note: On a recent airplane flight, I watched Casablanca for the 100th time and my eyes actually started to tear up during the singing of the Marseillaise. I started thinking about what's happening in our country and how Trump is trying to take over not just the government, but our cultural, medical and social life. While we are not in danger of winding up like the refugees fleeing the Nazis and waiting for a precious exit visa in Rick's Cafe, we must keep on singing our equivalent of the Marseillaise in defiance. His reign will end and we will still be here.