Lawyers field calls about leaving country

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Like clockwork, immigration lawyers in other countries say they field inquiries from Americans concerned about the outcome of the presidential election.

But in the end, one immigration lawyer in Canada said, Americans don't cross the border unless it's for a relationship or work, CNN reported Thursday.

"That's the amazing thing, when they speak on the phone. They're adamant. They feel very, very strong[ly] about it," David Cohen, a Montreal immigration lawyer, said in a telephone interview. "'This government doesn't speak for me' is the language that we often hear."

Cohen said he could count on one hand the number of cases in more than three decades in which someone actually moved to Canada because of the presidential election.

Most of the calls this year "tended to be conservative or [Republican presidential candidate Mitt] Romney supporters," Cohen said. "There were not as many from the other side, so maybe they had kind of a premonition."

Cohen told CNN he expects calls asking about Canadian citizenship will last for a few more months, but he said he thinks Americans basically are too loyal to leave.

"I've had Americans tell me this: When your national anthem plays, the hair on their arms stands up, and that's not like most people in the world," he said. "Americans, at the end of the day, are just a very patriotic group, and it doesn't matter what side you're on."