<[link removed]>



Meet the MAGA Americans who moved to Russia—to hilarious results



There is a genre of MAGA conservative so right wing, so brain dead, that they
go through the immense hassle of moving themselves and their family to
Russia—where gay and transgender people supposedly don’t exist, and … well,
that appears to be the bulk of the motivation for fleeing. They imagine a
utopia where “traditional values” rule and “wokeness” is banished, even if it
means embracing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Russia hasn’t just welcomed these ideological expats, it also markets itself
as a refuge for them. In 2023, a Russian immigration lawyer publicly pitched a
“migrant village” outside Moscow, designed to house hundreds of American and
Canadian families who want a life of wholesome, state-approved traditionalism.
Russian media breathlessly claimed that about 200 families were eager to sign
up.

In reality? By mid-2025, the grand vision had fizzled into just two occupied
homes—one of them belonging to a family you’re about to meet—and a PR stunt
that played better on state TV than on the ground.

Putin, of course, loves these Americans for propaganda purposes—until the
cameras stop rolling. Then he leaves them to fend for themselves in a country
with a hostile climate, significant language, cultural, and legal barriers, and
an economy best described as “Soviet nostalgia with fewer working elevators.”
Let’s meet a few of these true believers.




 



No sugar-coating it: Daily Kos needs your help. Can you chip in $5 today?
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

Donate $5
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

 



The Hare family



Leo and Chantelle Hare decided they’d had enough of the United States after
encountering, in their words, “too many lesbians” in their children’s school.
In Russia, they saw a land free from LGBTQ+ “indoctrination” and overflowing
with wholesome, patriarchal virtue.

So they sold everything, boarded a plane with their three kids, and landed in
Russia’s icy embrace, only to immediately run into a wall of bureaucracy. No
housing. No work. No social safety net. They latched onto a series of local
pastors and other samaritans for temporary shelter—because socialism is
apparently fine when it’s keeping them warm and fed. They just call it
“hospitality” when it’s for them.



For months, they ping-ponged from one free lodging to another, enjoying the
sort of community aid they’d denounce as “woke handouts” if it came in the form
of an American food stamp card. For all their rants about rejecting a “nanny
state,” they traded the U.S. safety net they despise for a patchwork of Russian
church basements and borrowed couches.

Then, in a display of impeccable financial judgment, they invested nearly all
their savings in a shady business scheme that’s now collapsing. Instead of
cutting their losses, they’ve convinced themselves that divine providence will
intervene. Actually, they think Putin himself will hear of their plight and
personally step in to save them. Because nothing says “effective leader of a
nuclear superpower” like micromanaging the bad investment choices of a couple
from Texas.

They seem to genuinely believe that, between murdering his neighbors and
crushing dissent, Putin will carve out time in his schedule to track down some
shady small-town grifter and get the Hares’ money back. But if Putin can’t do
it, they’ve got a backup plan: “Jesus is our lawyer.” And he’s probably the
only attorney in Russia who will work for free.

The Huffman family



Texan father of six Derek Huffman was done with America’s “woke culture”—the
“LGBT indoctrination,” the toxic dyes in food, the government overreach, and
the, uh, discrimination they faced, in Texas, as a white family.

“As a white family, [we were] being told we're racist and not given the same
opportunities because of the colour of our skin," he said.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. The Huffmans’ world was turned upside down
when his daughter learned about—gasp!—lesbians.

“The final straw was when we found out my daughter Sophia learnt about
lesbians from a girl in her class,” Huffman told Russian state TV. “She didn’t
fully understand it, but for us, that was enough to realize something had to
change.”

His daughter clearly didn’t care about the existence of lesbians, but
apparently even Texas was too woke for Huffman. Seeking a purer, safer life,
the family relocated to Russia under the Kremlin’s “shared values” visa—a
three-year residency scheme pitched as a sanctuary for those fleeing
“destructive neoliberal ideology.”

“The city was cleaner, safer, and more orderly than we ever imagined,”
Huffman gushed to Russian state media after a visit to Moscow. “Most
importantly, we found a place that respected our values—where we finally felt
at home.” The family was one of the two ending up in the American Village.

But three years was too long to wait for citizenship, so Huffman decided to
speed things up the Russian way: by joining the army. He signed up in May
expecting a civilian post—welding, maybe mechanics, or even a war correspondent
gig—anything to support his family without actually facing danger.

Instead, this being Putin’s Russia, everyone had a good laugh and handed him
a rifle. With zero military experience and no Russian language skills, Huffman
was rushed through basic training—conducted entirely in a language he didn’t
understand—and deployed near the Ukrainian front.

His wife DeAnna called it “being thrown to the wolves,” and said he hadn’t
been paid, while also being asked to “donate” 10,000 rubles for supplies. And
truly becoming Russian, DeAnna also admitted that she was a former alcoholic
and had started drinking again due to the stress.

In June, Huffman posted a Father’s Day message—camouflage-clad, longing for
home, promising he’d “do whatever it takes to be safe and to come home to you.”
Months later, there’s been no confirmed update, only periodic rumors of his
death.

At one point, his family briefly launched a Telegram channel with a single
post—his wife and daughters in tears, pleading, “We are asking the United
States government to save this family.” It was quickly deleted, perhaps after
they realized that President Donald Trump cared exactly as much about them as
Putin does—which is to say, absolutely nothing.






 



No billionaire backers, no paywalls. Daily Kos news exists because of YOU, our
donor community. Now, we need your help. Please donate today.
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

Click here to donate $5 today
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

 



The Feenstra family

Arend and Anneesa Feenstra were Canadian farmers, but in their minds, the gay
hordes loomed large, threatening the very existence of their large family.

“We didn’t feel safe for our children there in the future anymore,” said Arend
on Russian state TV. “There’s a lot of left-wing ideology, LGBTQ+, trans, just
a lot of things that we don’t agree with that they teach there now, and we
wanted to get away from that for our children.”

With eight kids, the odds were decent at least one of them might eventually
veer away from godly heterosexuality, so the Feenstras packed up and headed to
Russia. But reality hit hard and fast.



Their first crisis? Using the restroom. “I needed to use the washroom, and on
the doors it said male and female, but I didn’t know which was which!” Anneesa
recounted. Arend helpfully added, “In America, that wouldn’t be a problem, it’s
free-for-all in the bathrooms, but now in our world it matters!” Turns out,
they’d assumed every sign in Russia—a country with its own language and
alphabet—would be in English.

They also hadn’t considered that Russia gets cold in the winter—an
astonishing revelation for people who emigrated from Canada—the country famous
for hockey, snow, and temperatures that can freeze your eyelashes. Apparently,
“traditional values” don’t include checking the weather. They soon needed
charity from locals to stay warm, which they accepted without
hesitation—because when the freebies are for them, it’s just good Christian
fellowship, not the dreaded handouts they despise.

Then came the financial hiccup: Russia doesn’t accept Visa or Mastercard due
to Ukraine War sanctions, and their new Russian bank account was frozen after a
large transfer. The language barrier made it nearly impossible to fix.

On YouTube—because of course they document every misstep online—Anneesa broke
down in tears. “I’m very disappointed in this country at this point. I’m ready
to jump on a plane and get out of here,” she sobbed. “We’ve hit the first snag
where you have to engage logic in this country and it’s very, very frustrating.”

But Russia isn’t the land of the free or the brave, and they quickly learned
that public criticism of the country is not encouraged. The video vanished,
replaced with a groveling apology: Anneesa hadn’t meant she was disappointed in
Russia, they clarified, just “very frustrated in this country right now.”

By the time a Christian Science Monitor reporter visited, Arend had mastered
the art of being a model subject of an authoritarian regime. Asked about Putin
and Russia’s political system, he dutifully avoided any criticism, instead
echoing state propaganda. “I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like Putin,”
he said. “Government here works together with the people for a common goal.”

The Villa family



Okay, this one isn’t MAGA, but more of a victim of Russia’s propaganda.

Francine Villa, a Black woman disillusioned by systemic racism and police
violence in the U.S., decided the answer was to move somewhere she believed
race didn’t matter. That somewhere, according to her, was her birth country of
Russia. She relocated in 2019 and quickly became a darling of Russian state
media—smiling in interviews, praising the country’s racial harmony, and holding
herself up as living proof that Western criticism of Russia was overblown. For
the Kremlin, she was gold: a walking, talking rebuttal to accusations of
Russian racism.

But propaganda stardom has a short shelf life. Once the photo ops were over,
reality came crashing in. Her neighbors tried to prevent her from entering her
apartment and attacked her—beating her and her baby and shouting racial slurs.
The police did nothing, of course. Not a report filed, not an arrest made.

Villa later posted a video online showing her face swollen and bruised, eyes
puffy from crying, detailing the attack and the official indifference. The
country she’d praised as a racial safe haven revealed itself as a place where
racism isn’t just tolerated, it’s part of the furniture. Of course, she asks
for “help,” though who is supposed to render that aid in her racial utopia is
unclear.

Villa had fled a country with imperfect but existing civil rights protections
for one where she had none—and found herself abandoned by the very system she
helped promote. In America, she might have had a lawyer. In Russia, maybe she
should try the Hare family’s approach and call Jesus.



Click here to check out this story on DailyKos.com.
<[link removed]>




 



We're not asking for much



The average donation to Daily Kos has been just $9.44. These donations may
seem small, but they're a big deal to us. In fact, they are our largest source
of income. We literally couldn't do the work we do without them. Can you join
thousands of other Daily Kos readers and help us with a donation of $9.44 right
now?

Donate $9.44
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>



 



You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Daily Kos.
To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe
<[link removed]>
ormanage
<[link removed]
On Record&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&country=United
States&metadataCustom=testunsub> which newsletters you receive.