Some US citizens, grappling with issues from LGBTQ+ rights to the economy, are looking to the countries their families once left behind

Just the idea used to be absurd – that the US may not be the best place for a natural-born US citizen. But more Americans than ever are eyeing the right to dual citizenship by descent.

“The political instability in the US in recent years, along with Covid, has brought home to people that there might actually be a reason to live someplace else,” says Peter Spiro, a law professor at Temple University in Pennsylvania and author of several books about citizenship. “It has really highlighted the insurance value of a second citizenship. That’s new for Americans – this idea of having a plan B.”