According to the  North American Drought Monitor, there are an estimated 33.1 million people living in drought areas throughout Mexico; that’s about 26% of the entire population. Without water, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay healthy, pursue education, water crops, feed livestock, and make money. Water scarcity induced by climate change impacts local economies, with costs of up to 6% of the nation's GDP. Additionally, not having enough water has been linked to increased social conflict and sometimes even domestic violence, which leads to people fleeing their country out of fear for themselves and their families.  

The majority of our partner families – about 33% – are from Mexico. Most are seeking asylum due to persecution, criminal and political corruption, and/or a credible fear for their life. We can also assume they have experienced climatic hardships as well. As a board member of the ALIRP Direct Support Committee, I recently had the opportunity to ask our Mexican partners about their experiences with climate change and droughts. Here’s what they shared with me:   

Droughts and Floods Create a Cascade of Issues  
Although it may seem that droughts and floods are extreme opposites, they are connected. Researchers have defined a relationship between both hazards and air pollution. Air pollution may be responsible for retaining atmospheric moisture, effectively prolonging drought periods and inflicting heavier downpours, causing flooding. All of the Mexican partners I interviewed reported a high incidence of droughts. One partner explained, “With no rain or natural bodies of water nearby, we began having wildfire seasons, burning foliage and wildlife.” In contrast, another partner added, “Of course we felt the loss of our crops due to drought, but sometimes we would still experience the loss of our crops after flash foods – our crops would rot – it felt like we couldn’t win.” When crops supply grew scarce, livestock fatality increased, leaving rural Mexicans with very little variety in food choices and few nutrient-dense options, which are necessary to build a resilient immune system and protect against chronic disease. In this way, the effects of climate change such as drought and flash flooding can have a direct impact on a population’s health and wellbeing, and the health and well-being of Mexicans are negatively impacted by these events.  

​The Impacts of Climate Change are Felt Across Occupations   
Research has shown that the release of Greenhouse Gases, or effectively, carbon dioxide, increases the temperature of the earth’s surface. The occurrence of heatwaves, however, has increased due to the downward change in atmospheric pressure, and these heatwaves are amplified and prolonged. Although farmers were highly impacted by climate change, the general consensus was that the heat waves were intolerable to people who worked in outdoor settings and facilities without proper ventilation or air conditioning. The inaccessibility of potable water made working outside even more dangerous due to the increased chance of experiencing heat-related illnesses like heat stroke. One partner complained, “the heat in Mexico almost felt twice as hot as the summers [in Alabama].”   

The Underdevelopment of Infrastructure Impacts Access to Water and the Quality of Air   
Infrastructure and development can have a significant impact on how climatic shifts and weather events are experienced. Lack of infrastructure can exacerbate issues like air pollution and water quality. For example, some partners recalled that the absence of paved roads coupled with severe drought events would decrease the quality of air as cars passed by or gusts of wind lifted the dirt. Additionally, the absence of centralized waste disposal services created respiratory health hazards: “There was litter everywhere, rotting food and animal carcasses would just make your eyes water” one partner reflected. “It's not like we wanted to live like this, we just didn't have a way to dispose of trash, so we burned and buried what we could. But some things just don't stay buried under dry dirt and burning trash had its own risks.” The release of extremely small solid particles, otherwise known as “particulate matter,” can cause cardiac and respiratory problems.  

These health outcomes coupled with the inaccessibility of quality healthcare in rural settings propose disastrous consequences. One partner recounted a wildfire in 2012 that destroyed a significant portion of her village and killed two people, leaving friends and family devastated. “It was up to [the residents] to extinguish this fire because we had no fire department, and this water...we would purchase from a truck hauling potable water,” she added, “ it was awful.”  

Conclusion 
The effects of climate change on Mexican migration are complex and significant. As Greenhouse gases and global temperatures continue to rise, so do extreme weather events leading to crop failures, food insecurity, ambient air pollution, water scarcity, and eventually, the displacement of entire communities. Although currently being a victim of climate change is does not merit a claim for asylum, it may contribute to a migrant’s decision to flee Mexico, often to the United States. This situation calls for the prioritization of reducing Greenhouse Gases and the expansion of rural and urban infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of climate change and support vulnerable communities.  

Take Action 
You can take action on this issue by becoming a volunteer with ALIRP's Direct Support Committee and helping displaced individuals right at home. If you feel moved to do so, you can also donate to ALIRP or just share this article. Lastly, stay informed on climate action by visiting the United Nations Climate Action webpage.  ​

​As a professor of global health at UAB, I mentor a lot of students on projects and research that deal with international and global issues. In the past year, I’ve seen a surge of interest in climate refugees and climate change. Climate refugees (sometimes referred to as climate migrants) are people who are displaced and leave their home due to an environmental disaster like flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts. Climate refugee is not (yet) a legal term; it’s a scholarly term. Academics and advocates use this term to highlight the distinction from a refugee being forced to leave their home as a result of conflict versus a refugee being forced to leave their home because it was destroyed in an environmental or climate-related disaster.

Recently, I collaborated with one of our Master of Public Health Students, Kerry McCulloch, on a health needs assessment of migrant shelters at the US-Mexico border in Nogales (Sonora, Mexico). Kerry asked migrants why they had left their home and were seeking asylum in the US. The primary reasons for leaving were to escape violence, particularly criminal violence (67%) or armed conflict (58%). I also encouraged Kerry to include a few environmental reasons that people might leave their home based on research around climate refugees. A very small sub-sample emerged; just around 13% selected climate-related reasons, specifically floods, hurricanes, and landslides.

Although the numbers are small, they do highlight the fact that environmental and climate-related reasons are not distinct from conflict-related ones. Climate may be as much of a driver as political persecution is for many people seeking asylum. Climate may also be the tipping point for some people; “the last straw” so to speak. In Kerry’s study, we found some correlation and significance among these climate-related issues and family reunification, a
motivating factor for seeking asylum. In other words, some of the asylum seekers Kerry spoke with are the second wave of family members crossing the border. Maybe their spouse, sibling, or cousin had already crossed and started the legal process, and those waiting at the border plan to reunite their family while also leaving because the floods, hurricanes, and landslides are just getting to be too much.

I wanted to share this research note with ALIRP and their climate series because I really do think it’s complicated. The reasons people leave their home are complicated and, often, tragic.

We researchers need to do more to understand the role climate plays in people’s decision- making. And we, who advocate for refugees and asylum seekers, need to do more in describing the places where people come from. Where crime, corruption, and civil unrest persist, there may also be weak environmental infrastructure and regularly occurring natural disasters that make it difficult to stay and fight back or to wait it out. The distinction between conflict and disaster may not be so different as we sometimes may think it is.
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Acknowledgements: ALIRP would like to thank Kerry McCulloch, MPH for sharing your photos with us and we would like to acknowledge the Sparkman Center for Global Health, Moses Sinkala Travel Scholarship which funded Kerry’s research.

In the United States, access to transportation is a form of freedom. Transportation allows people to travel to work and school, to the grocery store, to appointments with lawyers and doctors, and to other community and social activities. Access to transportation is a means to upward mobility and economic progress, but for many refugees and asylum seekers, transportation is inaccessible. 

The majority of United States residents rely on the use of personal vehicles as their main form of transportation. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that 91% of adults in the U.S. commute to work using personal vehicles, whereas only 5% of adults nationwide commute to work regularly using public transit. This nationwide reliance on personal vehicle use as the main form of transportation presents specific barriers for asylum seekers, many of whom are unable to obtain driver’s licenses due to the lack of necessary legal documents, eligibility stipulations, and language barriers during driving tests. 

Lack of Necessary Legal Documents 
In order for a non-U.S. citizen to obtain a driver’s license in Alabama, they must have the following documents: A valid foreign passport with an acceptable visa or resident alien card; Social Security number verification * or letter from Social Security stating ineligibility; and one document from the “secondary” list authorizing presence in the U.S. for more than 160 days.

The “secondary” list contains the following documents: Employment authorization document with valid Social Security card; a valid visa (with supporting documents) authorizing presence in the United States for a period exceeding 160 days; a valid I-94 arrival/departure record issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; or an original I-797 (notice of action) issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, showing approval of change of status or extension of stay.

These requirements present barriers to asylum seekers on a number of accounts. Firstly, most of the documents on the “secondary” list are not applicable for asylum seekers. Asylum seekers do not come into the U.S. with a valid visa that would meet the requirements for obtaining a driver’s license, many of their I-94 cards do not reflect the proper immigration status for the requirements of a driver’s license, and they would not possess an I-797 until their asylum application is approved and they become an “asylee” instead of an “asylum seeker.”

Secondly, many asylum seekers in the U.S. do not arrive with foreign passports. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) explains that “refugees are persons fleeing persecution, conflict or violence in their country of origin, and therefore cannot, or cannot reasonably, approach the authorities of their countries of origin to obtain a passport, as this might put them at serious risk of harm.” Additionally, those who do attempt to apply for their foreign passports are met with difficulty finding transportation to the consulates in Atlanta and, if they do find transportation, long wait times for appointments. “We had a really difficult time making an appointment at the Honduran consulate,” said *Miguel. “We tried to make an appointment in April but they could not see us until August.” The risk and wait times associated with obtaining a passport makes it difficult for asylum seekers to fulfill even the most basic requirement in pursuit of a driver’s license. 

Thirdly, per USCIS policy, most asylum seekers, except those admitted with a status called “Humanitarian Parole,” must wait 150 days after filing their asylum applications before they are eligible to apply for employment authorization. The current processing time for employment authorization (EAD) applications based on a pending asylum application currently ranges from 11.5 to 13.5 months. This processing time means that, at a minimum, asylum seekers must wait nearly a year before obtaining one of the documents necessary to apply for a driver’s license. 

Eligibility Stipulations
If an asylum seeker is fortunate enough to have all of the necessary documents required to obtain a driver’s license, there are still additional stipulations that are not well-communicated by administering agencies. One of these stipulations is that one must have 160 days remaining on their immigration status or other legal documents such as work permits to be eligible to apply for a license. “I passed both the written and operational driving tests in English,” explained *Daniel. “But after the test, they told me I needed a minimum of six months left on my work permit to get my license…I only had one month left. I applied to extend my work permit months ago but have not heard anything yet…I am still without a license.”

Another avenue to obtaining a driver's license in the United States is transferring an International Driving Permit (IDP) and a valid license from one’s home country to the new state of residence. The opportunity of this pathway is slim, however, because an IDP and license must have been administered by the asylum seeker’s home country before they arrived in the U.S. The United States does not issue IDPs to foreign visitors. As asylum seekers are fleeing their home countries to escape violence and persecution, most leave quickly and do not prioritize obtaining an IDP beforehand. 

Language Barriers during Driving Tests 
If an asylum seeker makes it to the testing phase of the application process, they may be presented with additional barriers. In Alabama, written examinations are available in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese. Many asylum seekers, however, speak local dialects or other languages not represented in the list of available testing languages. Additionally, the road skills test takes place in the car with an examiner and is not required to be administered in any language other than English. This presents a challenge for asylum seekers if they do not understand English and are not able to effectively communicate with the examiners. 

Breaking Down the Barriers
“I wish the transportation system in the U.S. was different,” said *Daniel. “Many people who come here know how to drive. They have talent. They should be given permission to drive if they knew how…If they could drive, they could contribute to their families, and to this country.” 

ALIRP works to assist our Partners in overcoming the barriers associated with accessing transportation and obtaining their drivers’ licenses in various ways, including:

1. Equipping them with a transportation guide to explain the various transportation mechanisms and resources in the Birmingham area 
2. Providing them with transportation by volunteers as needed
3. Assisting them to obtain legal documents such as passports, work permits, and Social Security Cards
4. Delivering basic necessities such as food from food pantries and diapers from free diaper donation services
5. Advocating for political actions, such as the Case Backlog Transparency Act, that would make it easier for asylum seekers to obtain their legal documents in a timely fashion 

Seeking asylum in the U.S. is no easy feat, and those who take on the challenge show strength, bravery, and determination every step of the way. Show that you stand with asylum seekers in Birmingham and across the globe by joining ALIRP in our efforts to support them. To do so, consider volunteering your time, making a financial contribution, or sharing this article with a friend. Every action to remove barriers while seeking asylum is necessary, and we hope you will take action today. 

*All names have been changed to protect the identities of our Partners. 

Learn More
How America’s Failing Public Transportation Increases Inequality 
Automobile Dependency: An Unequal Burden 

Take Action 
Become a member of the Transit Citizens Advisory Board of the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority
Write to your Representatives and Congressmen to advocate for better public transportation in Alabama  
Join the National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates to advocate for increased investment in Public Transportation 

Breaking Down the Barriers
The mission of the Alabama Interfaith Refugee Partnership (ALIRP) is to support refugees and asylum seekers through education, advocacy, and direct support. We envision a world where all refugees and asylum seekers find safety and live with dignity. 

To make our vision a reality, ALIRP works to remove some of the barriers to seeking asylum by advocating to elected officials for the improvement of asylum application processes and systems. ALIRP also makes an effort to educate the public on these issues to empower individuals and other community groups to join the advocacy efforts. 
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In addition to advocacy and education efforts, ALIRP also provides direct support to asylum seekers in Birmingham to help them navigate legal and financial barriers. We do this by providing our partners with: 

1. Information about immigration attorneys in the Birmingham area
2. Partial financial assistance for fees associated with asylum applications (based on an assessment of the family’s needs and resources)
3. Transportation to legal appointments
4. ​Financial assistance for rent, utilities, healthcare, and food while our partners await their asylum decision
5. Volunteer Care Team support to assist with individual needs while our partners navigate the long and uncertain asylum process

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Seeking asylum in the U.S. is no easy feat, and those who take on the challenge show strength, bravery, and determination every step of the way. Show that you stand with asylum seekers in Birmingham and across the globe by joining ALIRP in our efforts to support them. To do so, consider volunteering your time, making a financial contribution, or sharing this article with a friend. Every action to remove barriers to seeking asylum is necessary, and we hope you will take action today. 
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