Posts tagged refugees
Can the U.S. Turn Away Asylees At Sea? A Legal Examination of the Migrant Interdiction Program

On April 12, 2022, the Coast Guard intercepted a vessel near the Bahamas carrying sixty seven Haitian migrants. [1] The rickety, U.S.-bound boat was stopped, its migrants were transferred onto a Coast Guard cutter, and ultimately, the entire group was sent back to Haiti. [2] This is common practice for the Migrant Interdiction Program (MIP)– the Coast Guard performs interdictions by intercepting refugee boats before they enter U.S. territorial waters and returning them back to their country of origin where many face imprisonment and torture, with insufficient determination of asylum eligibility. [3] Created in 1981 by President Reagan’s Executive Order 12324, the MIP was established as a “necessary and proper means” of enforcing U.S. immigration laws by preventing undocumented migration. [4]

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What is a “Refugee”? Expanding the UN Refugee Convention in the Face of Climate Change

Over the next few decades, anthropogenic climate change will force hundreds of millions from their homes in a migrant crisis of unprecedented proportions. As global temperatures rise, a series of “slow onset” environmental catastrophes has been set in motion; in many regions of the world, fresh water is becoming scarce, agricultural productivity is declining, and rising sea levels are producing higher storm surges. [1] Modeling the effects of these and other factors—such as heat stress, more extreme weather events, and the loss of habitable land—on “livability,” the World Bank predicts “climate change ... could force 216 million people ... to move by 2050.” [2] While some of these displaced individuals may migrate to safer regions within their home countries, many will choose to move to countries less economically affected by climate change. Ensuring that these future migrants receive government support is necessary to guarantee that they can secure a livelihood and find community in their new homes.

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