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Solving the Immigration Crisis Means Confronting Climate Change
Next year, voters will cast their ballots in the midterm elections. With the entire House and 34 Senate seats up for grabs next November, there will be a lot of talk about immigration.
Immigration will be a hotbed issue in the 2022 midterm election, and rightfully so. The immigration system is broken, but not entirely for the reason you think. Migration patterns of people coming to the United States are being exacerbated by the climate crisis.
In March, U.S. Customs and Border officials saw over 172,000 people attempting to cross the border. That’s an increase of 71% from the previous month and 34% from the year before during the same time frame. This is not news to Floridians, with immigrants accounting for 21% of the state’s population.
We are also all too familiar with the periodic need to flee our homes due to impending storms. But what if we were never able to go back?
Climate-related events such as hurricanes, flash floods, and landslides are damaging crops, decimating homes, and causing food instability. As a result, people are seeking refuge in the United States. Hurricanes Eta and Iota, which struck Central America last November, affected roughly 7.3 million people.
