Chapter 2 profiles prospective migrants around the world. Based on global polling, this chapter answers three related questions: What are the demographic and psychological attributes of prospective migrants? Do prospective migrants hold more liberal democratic values than their countrymen? And do prospective migrants prefer democratic destinations? Demographically, prospective migrants are likely to be younger, educated, socially connected, and open-minded adults. And crucially, they hold less authoritarian and more democratic political values than their countrymen.

This means that if they depart, the society they leave behind will not only become older, less educated, and more insular; it means that it will also become less democratic and more authoritarian in its orientation. Based on a conjoint survey design in five countries in the Middle East and North Africa, this chapter later finds that demigrants’ initial destination preferences draw them to democracies that reflect the political and civic values they hold, even if this means sacrificing their material well-being to some extent. Not only are many authoritarian countries being depleted of people with democratic values, these individuals are inclined to self-sort into a dichotomized world of free, democratic destinations and increasingly authoritarian holdouts.