“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” Arc told The Guardian while staying at the Netherlands’ Ter Apel asylum reception center.
Arc had previously lived in San Francisco and said a series of disturbing encounters contributed to her decision to leave the country. Among the incidents she described was an alleged confrontation with a driver who threatened to kill her.
She also pointed to changes implemented by the Trump administration concerning gender identity as part of the reason she believed remaining in the United States had become unsafe.
Rather than simply relocating to another part of America, Arc traveled thousands of miles to Europe and sought protection through the Dutch asylum system.
Her arrival quickly introduced her to a reality that was far different from what she apparently expected.
After landing at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Arc asked authorities how she could request asylum. She was eventually directed to Ter Apel, the Netherlands’ largest reception center for asylum seekers.
The facility has the capacity to house roughly 2,000 people and has struggled with overcrowding and security concerns. For Arc, those problems became impossible to ignore.
She said she encountered hostility from some asylum seekers because she is transgender and eventually became increasingly fearful about leaving the reception center for ordinary errands.
In an interview with Dutch broadcaster PowNews, Arc described the situation as potentially more dangerous than the circumstances she believed she was escaping in America.
“The situation I have in the US as a trans person, not good, right?” Arc said. “But here, I will be hurt or killed.”
Her comments came during a particularly difficult period for Ter Apel.
Dutch News reported that aid organizations temporarily suspended their work at the facility following several violent incidents, including two stabbings. Dutch authorities responded by increasing security, adding surveillance cameras and taking steps to prevent asylum seekers from being left outside when the center reached capacity.
For Arc, the experience ultimately changed her calculation.
Instead of receiving asylum protection in Europe, she returned to California.
Her story unfolded amid a noticeable increase in the number of Americans seeking asylum in the Netherlands after Trump’s return to office. Dutch government figures show that 76 Americans applied for asylum there in 2025.
That represented a sharp increase from previous years. Only nine Americans applied in 2024, while 18 did so in 2023.
Yet the numbers also reveal the difficulty Americans face when attempting to qualify for asylum in the Netherlands.
Of the 60 American asylum cases decided 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 decision.
The Dutch government’s position has been that political or social developments in the United States do not automatically establish that LGBT Americans face persecution.
Arc had cited Trump administration policies involving gender identity when explaining why she left the country. Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to recognize two sexes, male and female. His administration also moved to roll back several Biden-era policies involving gender identity.
But Dutch officials have emphasized that asylum claims are considered individually. Applicants generally must establish a credible fear of persecution or serious mistreatment under the applicable asylum standards.
That presented a significant obstacle for Arc.
Ultimately, the American who had left California in search of safety found herself returning to the same state she had once considered too dangerous.
Her return does not mean Arc has abandoned her concerns about transgender Americans or her criticism of Trump administration policies. Instead, it reflects a personal conclusion that remaining inside the Dutch asylum system was worse than returning home.
And Arc herself has acknowledged that her decision to leave America did not produce the result she hoped for.
“I did it because I was afraid for my life,” Arc said of leaving.
But after experiencing the Dutch asylum system firsthand, she reached a far harsher conclusion about her own decision.
She described the choice as “wildly stupid.”
The episode serves as a striking reminder that seeking asylum is not simply a matter of crossing an international border and asking for protection. Applicants must meet the legal requirements of the country where they seek refuge, and a person’s fears about political or social conditions do not necessarily satisfy those requirements.
For Arc, the experiment ended with an unexpected destination: home.
After leaving the United States because she believed her future elsewhere would be safer, she ultimately decided that California was preferable to the asylum system she encountered in the Netherlands.
