Anti-migration, pro-climate?

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Feb 16

Anti-immigration advocates should simultaneously be the most hardcore climate activists in the world.

*These colors run sustainably | Created by Jay W. Austin & DALL•E*

This doesn’t happen often, because the same convservatism and protectionism that bars others from entry tends to also favor financial systems that give them the illusion of control.

But I think there’s a sliver of anti-migration folks who could find an environmentally sustainable message compelling.

Here’s why.

Globally, climate instability and extreme weather events are forcing hundreds of millions of people to migrate to cooler zones (like the U.S.).

And if anything about what these people say is true about our immigration system (especially at the Southern border), our current system simply isn’t ready to embrace more people (even though our society could in fact support them).

The immigration attorneys I’ve talked to about this haven’t seriously started to think about the influx of people forcibly displaced because of climate changes.

If we could engage in a war for soil, or sorts, or a war against fossil fuel, or maybe a protection policy for water as ardently as we expand our military footprint around the globe, then we might find that the majority of reasons people migrate would find resolutions.

Aye, I’m Jay. You’re on my personal site where I post things I make about interrupting mass incarceration, protecting migration, environmental justice & sustainability, language, communications, storytelling, creativity, and tech.

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