Crystal Larios, ELR Staffer, Class of 2027

While United States immigration law provides some avenues for those facing hardships in other countries to seek refuge in the United States, those escaping climate disasters have few options for relief, as they are unable to pursue common routes of relief such as refugee or asylee status.

Climate change is causing a variety of disasters, from devastating hurricanes to ravaging floods and droughts. Consequently,  some people are forced to leave their countries due to climate disasters. Mistakenly, these people are often called “climate refugees” despite the fact that they cannot apply for refugee status outside of the United States, or asylum status in the United States on environmental grounds. United States immigration law requires refugee and asylum applicants to be fleeing persecution on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Without a category for natural disasters, many are unable to submit an asylum claim. 

However, environmental factors can still be taken into consideration when someone seeks a pathway to stay in the United States. Environmental factors, and environmental disasters in particular, can often play a part in an individual gaining Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows many individuals who are already present in the U.S. to legally reside in the country, obtain employment authorization, and obtain travel authorization on a temporary basis.  For example, in 2001, the United States granted Salvadorans TPS after two massive earthquakes, which made it impossible for El Salvador to safely accept returning nationals. Since then, the United States has repeatedly extended El Salvador’s TPS designation based on the same environmental conditions. Similarly, the United States has also granted Haiti TPS, and has extended that designation due to environmental disasters such as hurricanes in 2016 and 2021. Unfortunately, because TPS applies only to foreign nationals already in the United States, those seeking to flee from countries experiencing environmental disasters cannot use TPS as a pathway to enter the United States. 

Unfortunately, there would have to be enormous reforms to United States immigration law to create a pathway for those who are seeking refuge from climate disasters abroad. Currently, Latin America is seeing major internal displacement, with families moving north due to food insecurity as a result of climate change. Droughts and floods that are made worse by climate change threaten foods such as beans, rice, and corn, leaving many without staple cultural foods. In October, the Caribbean recently experienced Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 hurricane which impacted Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. And with no end in sight to climate change, these environmental disasters will still continue to happen. United States immigration law should expand to provide a form of relief to those who have been affected by climate change. These changes don’t have to be large–we can begin with allowing refugees and asylees to bring environmental claims, or expanding TPS to those who are arriving in the United States after an environmental disaster has occurred. Of course, the ideal solution is to look to fight climate change. But with the United States leaving the Paris Agreement for the second time, it doesn’t appear that U.S. politicians are willing to tackle climate change anytime soon.