Millions face displacement from floods, hurricanes, and droughts worsened by climate change, yet the United States offers them no legal pathway to safety. Neither US nor international law recognizes climate-driven displacement as grounds for asylum or refugee status, leaving those forced from their homes by environmental catastrophe with few options.
For those who have managed to reach American soil through other means, the situation has grown sharply worse. The Trump administration's immigration crackdown has effectively closed what little room existed for climate-displaced people to rebuild their lives in the country.
Evelyn fled Honduras as a teenager after Hurricane Mitch ravaged the country in 1998, killing 7,000 people. She remembers her family home destroyed, bodies and dead animals in floodwaters, and relatives in New York City urging her mother to bring the children north. "There were bodies and dead animals floating in the water, the house was messed up, the furniture was all gone," she recalled. "My uncle and aunt were just like, 'OK, just bring the kids over here, don't stay. It's dangerous.'"
She made it to the US and built a life, raising two daughters, one studying to be a lawyer and the other a doctor. Now she watches with dread as new barriers make it nearly impossible for others facing similar disasters to follow. "Every day it's more barriers," Evelyn said. "It's sad to know that people will not be able to apply for a status or something to help their situation."
The storms driving such displacement are growing deadlier. A rapidly warming atmosphere and ocean fueled by fossil fuel burning make hurricanes of Mitch's destructive power increasingly common. Yet the US system offers no recognition that such climate-linked displacement warrants protection.
A Sudanese doctor who came to the US years ago now faces deportation under a new entry ban on Sudan and dozens of other nations. A severe drought in Sudan has intensified the country's civil war and forced farmers from their land. "People have had to abandon their lands because there isn't enough water, millions have fled," he said. "There is climate change and the difficulty of people sharing resources and the conflicts are affected by that."
Rising global temperatures are exacerbating droughts worldwide. The United Nations reports that environmental factors have displaced 250 million people globally over the past decade. In fragile regions, climate shocks often trigger secondary crises, including conflict, gang violence, and armed groups that force people to flee their countries entirely.
A Somali man applying for asylum in the US described drought that drained his country's farmland and killed livestock and people alike. "People from the farming lands, they're dying, with no water," he said. "When it's not raining, everything will dry, people die, animals die, and all the people they run from the farm and come to the city." In Mogadishu, he faced armed groups bombing markets and forcing children into combat, prompting him to seek refuge. Now he fears the Trump administration's policies. "Now we are getting a lot of attacks from the government," he said. "It's scary with the government here, how they are treating people."
The administration has effectively shut down asylum processing, with narrow exceptions. People displaced by climate and trapped in countries with US entry bans face an nearly impossible situation.
Felipe Navarro, associate director of policy and advocacy at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, laid out the stark reality. "If you were displaced by climate change, that door is closed," he said. "This administration doesn't really care about climate change at all."
Democratic lawmakers have attempted in recent years to create a climate-related visa for those fleeing extreme weather. Those efforts have stalled as political opposition to migrants hardens. Even as the number of climate-displaced people grows, prospects for legal reform have dimmed significantly.
Navarro warned that closing borders does not end displacement, only forces people to find riskier routes. "When we close doors, though, people always find another path to move," he said.
Author James Rodriguez: "The US has always wrestled with who gets to stay, but closing the door entirely to people whose homes are literally becoming uninhabitable is a choice that will haunt us."
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