A transgender American who left the United States after President Donald Trump returned to the White House has returned home after an unsuccessful attempt to secure asylum in the Netherlands, calling the decision to leave America “the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.”
Jane-Michelle Arc, a 48-year-old software engineer from California, traveled to the Netherlands in April 2025 and sought asylum after saying she feared for safety as a transgender in the United States. Arc had lived in San Francisco and said harassment and threats, including an encounter with a driver who allegedly threatened to kill her, contributed to her decision to leave.
After arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Arc asked authorities how to apply for asylum and was eventually sent to the Ter Apel reception center, the Netherlands’ largest facility for asylum seekers. The center houses roughly 2,000 people and has faced longstanding problems with overcrowding, violence and security.
Arc soon concluded that conditions inside and around the facility were more dangerous than what she had left behind.
“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” Arc told The Guardian while she was still at Ter Apel. She said she had made the decision because she was afraid for her life in America, despite knowing that pursuing asylum was a drastic move.
Arc also described anti-trans hostility from some of the other asylum seekers at Ter Apel and said she eventually became afraid to make routine trips outside the facility. In an interview with Dutch broadcaster PowNews, she said conditions had taken a severe toll on Arc and that she believed remaining at the center could put her physical safety at risk.
Transgender man who fled the U.S. over Trump’s trans policies RETURNS to America after fearing for his safety in Arab refugee camp.
Jane-Michelle Arc fled to Ter Apel, the largest refugee camp in the Netherlands following Trump’s election- claiming he feared for his ‘safety’ in… pic.twitter.com/vMAMzwCN4M
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 9, 2026
“The situation I have in the US as a trans person, not good, right?” Arc said. “But here, I will be hurt or killed.”
Arc’s experience came as Ter Apel dealt with a difficult summer. Dutch News reported that aid organizations temporarily suspended work at the facility following multiple fights, including two stabbings. Dutch authorities responded with additional security guards, surveillance cameras and measures intended to keep asylum seekers from being forced to remain outside when the facility was overcrowded.
Arc ultimately returned to California without receiving asylum protection in the Netherlands. Her case was part of an unusual increase in Americans seeking refuge there following Trump’s return to office.
Dutch government figures show 76 Americans sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2025, compared with just nine in 2024 and 18 in 2023. Of 60 decisions made on American cases during 2025, none resulted in a residence permit, according to figures cited by European and Dutch media. Forty applications were rejected while another 20 ended without a substantive ruling.
Arc originally cited Trump administration policies on gender identity as part of her reason for leaving. Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office directing the federal government to recognize two sexes, male and female, and his administration moved to reverse a number of Biden-era policies involving gender identity.
Dutch officials, however, have said developments in the United States do not provide grounds to generally assume that LGBT Americans have a well-founded fear of persecution. In a 2025 response to parliamentary questions, the Dutch government said asylum claims are evaluated individually under standards requiring a credible fear of persecution or serious mistreatment.
For Arc, the asylum experiment ultimately ended back where it started: California. Despite continuing to criticize conditions for transgender Americans, she determined that returning to the United States was preferable to remaining in the Dutch asylum system.
The experience also left her acknowledging just how badly her attempt to escape America had gone.
“I did it because I was afraid for my life,” Arc said of leaving. But looking back at the decision, she described it as “wildly stupid.”
