Natural disasters and social conflicts spurred by deteriorating environmental conditions and climate change are driving people to move across borders. Economically disadvantaged communities, racial minorities, and indigenous people are often in the first wave of displaced people in the world’s poorer countries. These same communities are also the most heavily impacted by pollution and environmental degradation in the places that they live and work in the United States. This panel will explore the issues of immigration and environmental regulation. How do environmental regulatory and deregulatory schemes in the U.S. impact immigrant communities? How have arguments about the effects of immigrants on the environment been used to restrict migration and the rights of migrants? How should existing domestic and international legal frameworks governing migration be revised to respond to environmentally motivated migration?
Business meeting at program conclusion.