Climate Change Intensifies Immigration Crisis in Central America
Crop shortages caused by climate change have greatly impacted Central American farmers.
Crop shortages, natural disasters, and droughts caused by climate change have caused many rural farmers in Central America to flee their countries. These climate disasters have created food and wage insecurity, and along with corruption, gang violence, and political unrest, have forced wide-scale emigration from the region.
The United States Agency for International Development has categorized the region as one of the most susceptible to the immediate effects of climate change. Interestingly enough, these countries are largely not responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet.
An internal report circulated to officials in the Department of Homeland Security and the White House suggested that climate irregularities caused a recent surge in migration from Guatemala, according to NBC News. Data from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) shows that Guatemala is the single largest contributor to illegal immigration across the U.S. border in 2019. Climate change and resulting food insecurity from irregular crop production have directly contributed to this rise.
Despite the report, which NBC News gained access to in September, US policy towards Guatemalan and Central American immigration continues to focus on investing in drug control and violence prevention rather than agricultural concerns. Moreover, the Trump administration has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to affected areas. Some of this aid was designated to alleviate the impact of climate change on small farms.
“Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S.,” Donald Trump tweeted. “We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.”
The issue is not confined to Guatemala. Many flee Honduras for similar climate-related reasons, according to InsideClimate News. Global warming has driven away seasonal rains in Honduras that rural farmers relied on for sustenance. Nearly one third of the Honduran population is employed within the agricultural industry. Moreover, NBC reported that commercial logging has destroyed pine forests in the countryside, diminishing freshwater streams and skyrocketing temperatures in small rural villages.
Emigration from Central America has received much media attention for the large groups of asylum seekers traveling to the United States. Reporting on these groups focuses on issues such as political upheaval, corruption, and gang violence, but have noticeably left out climate and agricultural reasons, despite the fact that in many rural areas, ecological crises have been the driving factor for poverty according to PBS.
“It doesn’t come out right,” said Ruben, a Salvadoran farmer in an interview with anthropologist Miranda Hallett, “it just doesn’t pay any more to work the land. I take out a loan for seed, and then I can’t count on making it back to pay off my debt.”
Experts at the World Bank predict that nearly 2 million people will be forced to emigrate from Central America by the year 2050 due to factors related to climate change. Without great change, millions of people will be forced to choose between a perilous migration journey or insecure livelihoods.