Policy Analysis and Fieldwork

Environmental Impacts and Displacement

Partners: Stanford Law School, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center

HUMSI created and led multiple research projects examining the intersection of environmental conditions with other root causes of cross-border displacement in the Americas based on in-person interviews with migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Key findings demonstrate that environmental factors contribute to both initial displacement and compound vulnerabilities along migration routes. HUMSI's research on climate and displacement has informed advocacy reports, scholarly articles, and other published writing pieces. It also set the foundation for IRAP's Enduring Change data study examining climate impacts on more than 5,000 migrants and asylum seekers.

Publications:  Climate of Coercion: Environmental and Other Drivers of Cross-Border Displacement in Central America and Mexico (Español)  | Press Release | Webinar | Climate-Related Displacement and U.S. Refugee Protection, UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy | JURIST column| Dejusticia column | Danger by Design Report (Español) | Press Release

Cross-Border Mobility in the Americas

Partners: Immigrant Defenders Advocacy Center, Quixote Center, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Witness at the Border, American Immigration Council, Red Franciscana Para Migrantes

HUMSI led research and writing for a coalition report examining conditions faced by those crossing the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama. In March 2024, the team conducted extensive in-person interviews in Panama with migrants, asylum seekers, and humanitarian aid workers. The report documents incidents of sexual violence, criminal exploitation, and institutional challenges affecting those who crossed in recent years. The research examines how lack of access to safe and legal pathways drives movement through remote territories where individuals face environmental hazards and organized criminal activity.

Publications: Danger in the Darién Gap Report | Press Release

International Refugee Assistance Project Climate Program

Partner: International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)

HUMSI has provided consultation services to support IRAP's Climate program, including drafting legal and policy documents, supporting data collection on the intersection of climate with other displacement drivers, and assessing protection frameworks for climate-displaced populations.

Projects include IRAP's Practice Guide on U.S. Refugee Protection Claims Related to Climate Change and Environmental Disasters, which provides an overview of how U.S. asylum and refugee resettlement mechanisms may provide protection for individuals who are displaced, in whole or in part, due to environmental and climate-related factors. HUMSI also contributed to a Legal Action Agenda published by IRAP alongside nine nonprofit organizations, which outlines concrete steps to support the rights of climate-displaced people in the Americas, with legal and policy recommendations to assist those who relocate across borders or are internally displaced.

Publications: Practice Guide on U.S. Refugee Protection Claims Related to Climate Change and Environmental Disasters | Legal Action Agenda for Climate Displacement