Why this American family left everything behind for New Zealand
Monday, 27 October 2025
When Tom and Bradley Balthrop-Lee met as university students in Tennessee, they had no idea the life they would build together would one day take them halfway across the world to New Zealand.
Tom was completing his master’s in education, while Bradley, was working toward his bachelor’s. Both went on to build successful careers as teachers. They married, settled in a small town in North Georgia, and eventually welcomed their son, Riley.
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But as the years went on, they say the America they knew began to feel different.
“We noticed an increasing division that found its way into everyday life,” Tom, 44, says. “Friendships break over political positions. If you start the wrong conversation, it can immediately go south.
“What Trump did is make it OK to be intolerant. He made it OK to normalise bigoted views. It’s not that those views don’t exist in culture, they exist. But it’s up to leaders to be the guiding light, to bring the positivity, to suppress that.”
Bradley, 36, recalls an atmosphere thick with unease.
“It felt like a pressure cooker, getting worse by the day.
“We lived in a small town where everyone knows everyone and so we quickly became the gay couple with the kid and there's no other family like that where we were from.”
Fears for son’s safety
They also feared for their son’s safety. In their school district, teachers were issued “panic buttons” that automatically locked doors and called police in the event of a shooting.
“It’s great technology,” Tom said. “But to raise our son in that environment began to weigh heavier and heavier.”
Their concerns deepened when the divisions around them began to echo at home.
“There would be some instances where our son would come home from school and he would make certain comments that weren’t homophobic or anything, but you could just tell there were little seeds being planted [by others],” Bradley said.
They felt it confirmed what they’d already begun to fear - their values no longer matched the community around them.
“We are a very inclusive family,” Bradley said. “We want to embrace everyone no matter what their differences are, and we've always tried to instil those values in our son. We just did not see that in our home town and we wanted to get away.”
Meanwhile, abortion rights were being rolled back, and protections for same-sex marriage felt increasingly fragile, leaving them - along with many of their friends - living in fear, the couple said.
“If our rights as a family were ever called into question that would be our fear,” Tom said. “We don’t want our son to see our family as any less than any other.”
‘New Zealand had always been in my heart’
In January, the couple decided to leave. They considered several countries - Portugal, Canada, Costa Rica, for example - but kept coming back to one place.
“New Zealand had always been in my heart,” Tom said. “We narrowed it down between Portugal and New Zealand. Ultimately it was sort of a gut thing.
“[We asked] which one seems to be more removed from the chaos, because that was the overriding goal? Which one seems to have an education system we would love to teach in and we would love our son to be a part of?”
When the couple discovered New Zealand was offering overseas teachers a “straight-to-residence” visa - and a $10,000 relocation grant - it sealed the deal. Within months, both had job offers and their visas approved.
More Americans looking at NZ
Stuff reported in January that there had been an increase in the number of US citizens looking into moving to New Zealand.
Back then, Prudence Thomson, founder and manager of Accent Health Recruitment, said the agency had been “really, really busy” since Trump’s inauguration in January.
In a regular week there would be four or five enquiries from Americans, but that had jumped to around 100, she said.
It wasn’t just Trump prompting the interest. Thomson said other motivations included major shootings and climate change events.
And Immigration New Zealand said last month that the US had overtaken other countries to become the biggest source of applicants for the Active Investor Plus scheme.
For the Balthrop-Lee family, the goal is a reality.
In late September, the family touched down in Auckland, ready to begin their new lives.
“It’s been busy setting up the house, buying furniture, starting work,” Bradley said. “But we already feel so much safer here than we felt back home.”
That difference hit home soon after they arrived, when Bradley made a post on social media asking for an LGBT+ friendly barber.
“I think I accidentally offended a few people,” he said. “Everyone replied saying, ‘every barber’s like that here!’ But where we're from, that would just be something you would have to ask.”
Riley, now 7, is thriving.
“He’s a social butterfly,” Bradley said. “He was a little concerned about changing schools, but he‘s adjusting very well. He came home one day amazed that recess [break] here lasts longer than in the States, where he only got 15-20 minutes for the day.”
Still, the move has come with mixed emotions. Bradley said he is grieving the loss of the America he thought he knew and the life left behind.
“I’m going to miss being around my family and my friends. But, I'm not going to miss being in that atmosphere. I'm still glad I'm here.”
While Tom feels oddly grateful: “In a sick sort of way, I’d thank President Trump for giving me the motivation to finally do what I’d always wanted to do.”
The pair say they’ve been blown away by how warm and welcoming Kiwis have been.
“The guy who cleaned our carpet told us we couldn’t have picked a better place in the world to raise a child,” Tom said.
His message for New Zealanders is simple: Don’t take it for granted.
“I know the economy’s tough and prices are high,” he said. “I know things aren't perfect - nowhere is perfect. Just appreciate the place you have. It's a special place in this world.”