Here's what I'd be doing right now if I were an immigrant, trans, POC stuck in the U.S.

First, you need to get serious and understand the crisis point that we’re in. The leaders of the regime have told you and shown you exactly what they intend. Trump, Miller, and every right-wing pundit has called for war on the left. It’s only a matter of time before ICE is turned loose on citizens in a mass campaign of fear.

We’re not “sliding into fascism” or “on the brink” or “near the edge.” We’re there. We are fully there. It is only a matter of time before the regime starts persecuting all of the people they have time and again told us that they would persecute. Look at how hard they’re trying to pin this Charlie Kirk shooting on trans ideology, the latest conservative spin is that the shooter’s roommate is possibly trans and therefore this shooting was the fault of “dangerous trans ideology” whatever that means.

They’re actively building the camps. They’re actively recruiting the secret police. They’re on TV and social media, calling for war with the “radical left.”

It’s time for you to get serious about all of this.

Luckily, I’m out. I’ve been disillusioned with our society since my 20s and basically dropped out of “normal society” in 2016. That’s when I hiked the Appalachian Trail for the first time. Since then I’ve lived a nomadic life where I don’t own much and get by with just the bare necessities. I haven’t rented an apartment since 2018, and the last four years the only time I’ve spent stateside has been when I was hiking. So it was easy for me to just stay out of the country once I saw that a fascist had been elected.

If I were still stuck in the US, here’s what I’d do:

• Save every dime. Ruthlessly cut my expenses. No dining out. Buy anything I need secondhand.

• Reduce my rent burden however I can - take on roommates or live out of a vehicle.

• Get in shape. I would run for minimum one hour three times a week, do calisthenics three times a week, and go on one long weighted hike in the mountains every week.

• Reach out to my network and see who else is ready to take this seriously and start making plans.

• I would buy a small cheap plot of land in northern Vermont, northern Maine, or southern New Mexico. Those are the border states I know well, and I know the way to leave the country on foot in those locations.

• I would make plans with my like-minded friends to build a community on this plot of land. Five to ten people selling their assets and pooling their resources and skills could go a long way.

• I would exercise my 2nd amendment rights and get well trained.

• I would get my passport renewed, a FBI background check complete, my official school transcripts, and birth certificate and have all of those documents packed, ready to go. If I had vital medication I would try to stockpile as much as I could and have it on hand ready to go.

• I’d sell whatever assets I have so that if I need to go, I can go, without being tied down.

• I would install solar power on the land, and start building a stash of non-perishable food and use rain barrels to collect water and have ways to purify that water.

The less you need, the easier it is for you to pick up and move. I understand that for many people it simply isn’t realistic or possible for you to take many of these steps. I don’t know what to tell you.

This is what I would do. I’ve lived a frugal life and been disillusioned with our capitalist society and the status quo since college. I’ve lived a bare bones life out of necessity for most of my life. Eating ramen and sleeping in the woods was the only way I could afford to travel without having to work and that’s why I kept going on thru-hikes.

I couldn’t have lived the lifestyle I did where I only worked every other year, or six months of the year without being okay getting by on the bare necessities. If you can’t cut down your expenses and learn to live without then it simply isn’t realistic to be able to ever escape the cycle of consumption and debt. Not many people will be able to leave this country without savings and without the ability to live on a shoestring budget until you’re on your feet again.

I didn’t start this lifestyle with the intent of saving myself from a fascist government, but when the fascist took over it was really easy for me to move. Because I don’t own anything. I don’t have anywhere I need to be. I’d already lived for years abroad and knew how to do it.

So that’s the advice I can give. You need to start doing the things now to set yourself up so that if you really need to go, you can go.

Again, it’s time to get serious.

These are drastic steps. These aren’t actions that set you up for future success in a “normal” society. These aren’t actions you’re going to take if you think that this is politics as normal and everything will just get “back to normal” in 4 years.

Again, this is what I would be doing if I were stuck in the US. Make your own decisions. I think the moment we’re in warrants this level of drastic action. I don’t think this is politics as normal. I don’t think things will get back to normal in 4 years. I don’t think the tyrant is going to allow free elections in the midterms. I don’t think he is going to give up power without violence.

I think very soon they’re going to go after the “radical left” in a dangerous way. They’re telling you that’s what they want to do. The entire conservative ecosystem was frothing at the mouth to hunt down their fellow citizens immediately after the shooting, and before it was revealed that it was an even further-right extremist that killed Charlie Kirk. They’ve shown you their hand. They’re just waiting for the inciting event to play it.

Believe them. Take this seriously.