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Rochester-area Expat Closely Watches Brexit Referendum Outcome

Stephanie Finney

A Rochester-area native now living in London says she can't wait to hear the outcome of today's vote that will decide whether Britain will remain in the European Union.

"Friends are not friends right now because of arguments about should we should stay or should we go,” said 40-year old Stephanie Finney. “There's a high level of stress about it. People definitely feel really strongly about it because they feel that stake in it."

Finney grew up in Albion and moved to the UK eight years ago to pursue her master's degree and fell in love with London. She works at the London School of Economics. Even though she was not eligible to vote in Thursday's referendum, Finney has a definite opinion about whether Britain should stay or leave the EU. 

 "It would be shortsighted to leave. There's a lot of rhetoric around immigration going on right now, but from what I can see in statistics, the UK gets a lot more out of immigration than what they put in."

Finney does not believe a decision to leave the UK would affect her immigration status, at least not in the short term.  She is eligible to apply for British citizenship, but hasn't done so yet. Finney has European Union friends who have been living in Britain for years and are now rushing to apply for citizenship for fear that they will be deported if the “leave” vote wins.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.