5 Things to Know: Human Migration and Climate Change
Image Source: Refugees International
Human activity disrupts climate. The adverse effects of climate change are negatively impacting humans every day. This relationship goes both ways. Yet the burdens of climate change are not distributed equally. People who struggle with poverty, homelessness, lack of resources, and marginalization disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change; their baseline vulnerability and inequalities are exacerbated by the crisis.
This article will investigate the injustice that can be seen particularly through the relationship between climate change and human movement. With that, here are five things to know about this complicated relationship, using the U.S.- Mexico border as a case study.
1. Vulnerabilities of the Physical World: At and Around the Border
The Western Highlands, a region between Antigua and the Mexican border that is characterized by drought, marks the tumultuous journey to enter the U.S. This stretch of land is home to three hundred microclimates, from arid and alpine to dark and tropical. For this reason, the malnutrition rate in this region is one of the highest in the Western hemisphere, falling at a staggering 65%. In fact, a report released in 2014 about an initiative called Climate, Nature, and Communities of Guatemala named this region the most susceptible area in the world to climate change (U.S. Agency for International Development, 2023). With daily obstacles ranging from hurricane damage, to wide fluctuations in temperature, to unpredictable rainfall, these physical issues are constantly driving more migration to the United States.
2. Displacement due to Climate Change: Human Movement Without Choice
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2008, 22.5 million people have been displaced by climate-related extreme weather events. This number is devastatingly high, and is expected to continue to increase as the planet faces more detrimental impacts of climate change in the coming years. A study that conducted observation from 2012-2019 found a clear association between decreases in rainfall and increased flows of human migration (Bermeo, 2021). This research found climate change to be one of the root causes for migration for Honduran families, in addition to other factors such as increased violence. Furthermore, the Global Compact on Migration states that, “climate, environmental degradation and natural disasters increasingly interact with the drivers of refugee movements” (OCHA, 2023). Many migrants coming to the U.S. seeking asylum have experienced devastating climate disasters both in their home countries and on their journeys across the border.
3. Prevention by Deterrence Policies
In 1994 the United States Border Patrol implemented the first Prevention by Deterrence policy, which aimed to discourage undocumented migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border via the least risky means of entry: urban ports. However, the closing off of these ports made the only points of entry in far more remote regions with much lower population rates. The primary deterrent to cross borders after this policy change became the natural environment itself. The hostile terrain in the Western Highlands is unquestionably not safe to attempt this journey. Still, more than six million people have made the trek through the Highlands, and across the Sonoran desert of Arizona since 2000. This unpopulated wilderness has caused countless deaths, due to the utterly insensitive and unsustainable prevention by deterrence policy that forces immigrants to interact with unsafe land that is most vulnerable and most affected by climate change.
4. Environmental Risks of Detention Centers on Migration Routes
Migrants that are placed in detention centers face significant health and environmental risks. The lack of physical land allocated to these people makes mitigating disease and viruses like COVID-19 nearly impossible. These migrants began their journey often with no other choice, fleeing from the violence and environmental degradation in their home countries. Asylum Access Mexico, an organization fighting to close detention centers, reports that detention centers often have abysmal sanctuary conditions, lacking access to necessities such as toilet paper and soap (Global Exchange, 2023). COVID-19 as well as the increasing ways climate change is affecting vulnerability to disease in general have placed an insurmountable strain on these migrants' physical safety.
5. How Best to Help these Countries Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change
The U.S. Mexico Border Environmental Program functions as a model to help achieve better environmental and public health results for people in the U.S.-Mexico border region (EPA, 2023). This program aims to alter the laws and regulations that govern Mexico and the United States, respectively. Some central goals of the project include reducing air pollution, improving water quality, promoting the management of sustainable materials, and increasing preparedness for hazardous environmental emergencies. This program recognizes the direct correlation between climate change and human migration, and seeks to stabilize health, climate, and safety vulnerabilities of migrant communities at the border.
References
Bermeo, Sarah, and David Leblang. “Honduras Migration: Climate Change, Violence, & Assistance.” DCID, March 1, 2021. https://dcid.sanford.duke.edu/sarah-bermeo-publishes-research-on-honduras-migration/.
“Border 2025: United States - Mexico Environmental Program.” United States Environmental Protection Agency, January 4, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-05/documents/final_us_mx_border_2025_final_may_6.pdf
“Climate, Nature, and Communities: Guatemala.” U.S. Agency for International Development, April 7, 2023. https://www.usaid.gov/guatemala/programs/climate-nature-communities.
“Close Detention Centers Now.” Global Exchange - Building People-to-People Ties. Accessed April 25, 2023. https://globalexchange.org/close-detention-centers/.
Fukuchi, Aiko. “No Borders: There Is No Environmental Justice Without Immigrant Justice.” GAIA, November 12, 2021. https://www.no-burn.org/no-borders-there-is-no-environmental-justice-without-immigrant-justice/.
Kennedy, Sarah. “The Deadly Connections Between Climate Change and Migration.” Yale Climate Connections, November 26, 2022. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/07/the-deadly-connections-between-climate-change-and-migration/.
Lima, Mauricio, and Jonathan Blitzer. “How Climate Change Is Fuelling the U.S. Border Crisis.” The New Yorker, April 3, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/how-climate-change-is-fuelling-the-us-border-crisis.
Miao, Hannah. “Climate Change Is a Major Factor Behind Increased Migration at U.S. Southern Border.” CNBC, April 18, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/18/us-mexico-border-climate-change-factor-behind-increased-migration.html.
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, International Refugee Assistance Project, and Human Security Initiative. “Climate of Coercion: Environmental and Other Drivers of Cross-Border Displacement in Central America and Mexico.” OCHA Services, March 30, 2023. https://reliefweb.int/report/united-states-america/climate-coercion-environmental-and-other-drivers-cross-border-displacement-central-america-and-mexico.
Weerasinghe, Sanjula. “What We Know About Climate Change and Migration.” The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), February 2021. https://cmsny.org/publications/climate-change-migration-summary/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwz6ShBhCMARIsAH9A0qW9MJ_-9CBx_ktTTTkZ-XZBrRRFnNNiqNfCzcpKjkRxJ8EAL1dC61EaAmSeEALw_wcB.