Americans constitute 48% of Canadian citizenship approvals since February under a new “proof of citizenship by descent” category that has prompted a surge of approvals, Reuters reported, citing data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the country’s immigration agency.

The new rules allow “more descendants of Canadians to claim citizenship compared with just first-generation descendants previously,” jumping from 275 additional approvals under the new category when it took effect in December to more than 1,000 a month since, with a high of 1,400 in March.

The Great North didn’t willingly expand the category but responded to a 2023 court ruling that struck down its limits on citizenship to “the first generation born abroad” under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

U.S.-based immigration lawyer Nick Berning told Reuters most of the approved applicants under the new category will likely remain abroad but cited “U.S. politics” as driving Americans specifically to seek “a way out” if “things become untenable” stateside.