What would 38.8 million people leaving the United States look like? What about an economy worth trillions of dollars? Or 55 electoral votes? A political group in California has requested a bill that would allow California to secede from the US, and, surprisingly, the movement has gained some traction, mostly due to president-elect Donald Trump.

 States trying to secede from the union is nothing new in US history. Aside from the American Civil War, there have been more peaceful and less consequential efforts to secede. Texas, especially, has hosted many nationalist groups over the years, and online succession voting launched in every state after the results of the 2012 election.

 At first, the California Secession movement, nicknamed Calexit, was easily dismissed by the general public as a radical, but harmless, organization. But after the surprising results of the election, the residents of California were faced with the harsh reality that Hillary Clinton would not be the next president of the United States. California has gained a reputation of an incredibly liberal state and voted Democrat since 1988. After Trump won the election, the anti-Trump riots that happened all over the country were especially prominent in California.  As a result, support of the “Yes California” movement has skyrocketed.  “People can protest, as much as they want, that’s their constitutional right, but that same constitution also makes Trump president,” says sophomore Matthew Garreau.

 Even though very few people, even supporters of the secession movement, see the nation of California becoming a reality, the process has been meticulously planned and are ready to go into effect.  The leaders of the “Yes California” movement have started discussions with Vladimir Putin and Russia, but few details about the discussions have surfaced. The leader of the movement, Lois Marinelli, who lives in Russia, opened an independant embassy and is using it to educate Russians about the movement. Marinelli has already stated that he is not requesting military assistance from Russia during the secession, but has requested that other nations acknowledge California as a nation.

 The secession process is a gradual one, with California hopeful to formally secede in 2019. The first step would be to obtain five hundred thousand votes to take the referendum request on a public ballot. After that, California would stop paying taxes and cut ties with the US. According to the official website, the US dollar would still be used in California at least for a few years after secession.  

 California would carry over multiple liberal views during the succession. One of the actions “Yes California” seems anxious to do is all but completely sever the military budget, claiming immunity to radical terrorism. Another goal for the independant state of California is to escape US debt and trade, with not much information on the website other than wanting a clean slate. An independent state of California would have the sixth largest economy in the world, with a GDP exceeding France, India, Italy, and Brazil (7th through 10th, respectively).  No concrete policies have been drawn up yet, but the “Yes California” movement is hopeful that it will meet California values.

Calexit is mostly a distant hope for Californians who want a new country, and will likely not be legalized.