“People are leaving [California] to go to places that once were known as ‘hell hot Texas’ or ‘desert Nevada’ that have become paradises in their mind—and we took paradise and turned it into hell,” said one researcher in EpochTV’s new documentary “Leaving California: The Untold Story,” which premiered on April 21.

More than 700,000 people left California from April 2020 to July 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The fact that hundreds of thousands left, “in light of California being such a wonderful place is … unbelievable!” another researcher said in the film.

The remarks by Victor Davis Hanson, a historian at the Hoover Institute, and Jim Doti, president emeritus and professor of economics at Chapman University, encapsulate the biggest, unprecedented question facing Californians: why are people leaving the paradise?

In the 70-minute film, Siyamak Khorrami—the host of EpochTV’s California Insider program and editor of The Epoch Times Southern California edition—takes viewers on a personal journey to discover the reasons behind people fleeing the Golden State, once a prime magnet destination attracting immigrants and tourists from within the United States and around the world.

Branded as “the most important documentary on California,” the film delves into the challenges faced by those who call—or called—California home, and their experiences grappling with various pressing issues including crime, education, housing, cost of living, wildfire, and homelessness.

Property crime is one of many reasons some have moved out.

Derek Drake is one of the 700,000. His small family-owned laundromat in Oakland had been subject to multiple window-smashing break-ins in recent years. One time, thieves stole $600 from the ATM but caused $3200 in damage, he said.

Drake blamed the blatant wave of crime on state policies that have reduced penalties for certain crimes in recent years.

“They know they’re not going to get in trouble. The penalties out here are nothing. It’s all ‘non-violent crime.’ A lot of people aren’t even reporting crimes anymore,” Drake said.

“A lunch is $30 now,” Kevin Schmidt, an actor, said in the documentary.

The former California resident said nearly everything becomes more expensive in Los Angeles, from gas prices reaching $7 per gallon to over $2,700 for a one-bedroom apartment.

The high cost of living also has a lot to do with government policies, according to Hanson, the Hoover Institute historian.

“The people who set policy—whether it’s on electric prices or fuel prices—they’re never subject to the consequences of their own ideology,” as the policymakers can afford the rates, Hanson said.

Many big employers—such as Uber and Tesla—already relocated their headquarters to states with lower taxes and less stringent labor laws while small businesses are pushed out by minor infractions that can lead to hefty settlements.

Diana Bonnett, a business owner who also left California, said she mistakenly underpaid an employee about $34. Without first notifying her of the underpayment, the employee filed a lawsuit, which settled for $30,000, she said.

With employers moving out of California, where the income tax rate can reach 13.3 percent, individuals are seeking better opportunities in Florida, Washington, and Texas, where there’s no income tax.

Many are also fleeing for their children’s education.

Only one-third of fourth graders in California are math proficient in 2022, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Gloria Romero, former Democratic majority leader for the California state senate, points out in the documentary a correlation between failing academic performance and incarceration—saying almost 70 percent of inmates in the state do not have a high school diploma.

“If we don’t transform failing schools, in which disproportionately high poverty, African American, Latino kids are trapped, … you’re going to find illicit activity, drug running, [and] crime,” she said.

Although the California Environmental Quality Act—or CEQA—was intended for minimizing negative impacts on the environment and wildlife, it has become a common tool for anyone to sue a development proposal over arbitrary disagreements, which can prolong the approval process for years, making a project costly and no longer viable, according to developer and former Mayor of Costa Mesa Jim Righeimer.

“In other states, if you want to sue, you [need] some standing,” he said in the documentary. “Here anybody can sue to stop a development from going forward.”

As such, many well-intentioned laws have led to developers stopping operations or leaving California, where politicians are calling for building more affordable housing to address the homelessness crisis.

Pleasant weather is the biggest blessing and woe for California as it nurtured a vibrant culture of outdoor living and—when coupled with other problems—street homelessness.

About 30 percent of the nation’s homeless—over 170,000 people, and growing—reside in California, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2022 count (pdf).

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the problem has become an industry, with the state feeding billions into it without seeing any improvement.

“There are people making their careers feeding off of the homeless,” he said in the documentary. “You look at the nonprofits … [Their] CEOs are making $800,000 a year. Managers and directors are pulling in $200,000 plus.”

Villanueva said politicians are claiming the homeless crisis is caused by a lack of affordable housing, when it’s really a drug and mental health issue.

“If you’re smoking meth 24/7, rent could be a nickel a month and you couldn’t afford it,” he said.

Against the backdrop of the mass exodus, Khorrami sees hope in grassroots efforts by people like Zach Southall—founder of homeless outreach Charity on Wheels, who helps homeless individuals in his community get their lives back to normal.

“The majority of the people that I work with—the homeless—they’re dealing with some sort of trauma, heartbreak,” Southall said. “It’s a heart issue.”

His team focuses on getting to the root causes of homelessness by listening to each person’s story and building trust, through consistent outreach on the ground—which is “so tough” and “requires investment in people that government is not ready to make,” he said.

“We are having real conversations that are leading to real relationships being developed, and people will actually tell you what’s going on [in their lives] … And next week, they’ll see you again … again … and again. Eventually … when they are ready for a change, guess whom they are going to call? … You!” he said.

Through the journey of investigating the exodus, Khorrami realized that the breaking point might be a turning point for California.

“There are so many other people doing the same [like Southall], but their stories are not told,” he said. “… The future of California is in the hands of these people. If I can help share their stories, maybe it will inspire more Californians to do the same.”

To watch “Leaving California: The Untold Story,” visit EpochTV or LeavingCAmovie.com.