UNITED STATES: Man who fled Trump’s America as a transgender woman returns after calling it the “dumbest thing ever”
Software engineer Jane-Michelle Arc, 48, fled San Francisco after Trump’s reelection, seeking asylum in the Netherlands over safety concerns as a transgender woman.
Arc was placed at the Ter Apel refugee camp and later described conditions there as “dire,” citing intense anti-trans hostility from other asylum seekers from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Turkey, Algeria, and Morocco. Arc said even a trip to the store felt unsafe and feared being hurt or killed.
In interviews after returning to California, Arc called leaving America “the dumbest thing I’ve ever done” and “wildly stupid.”
Dutch authorities denied the asylum claim, ruling the U.S. is a safe country of origin.