Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) on Nov. 16 announced the reintroduction of the Climate Displaced Persons Act.
The bill would “enact a national strategy that would provide a more equitable immigration pathway to the United States for people displaced by climate change and critical support for people affected by climate disasters internationally,” Markey’s office said in a news release. The legislation would also create a Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy “to protect people before displacement strikes.”
Specifically, the legislation would, among other things, create a U.S. resettlement pathway for climate-displaced persons, require agencies to collect data on who climate visas are awarded to and use this data to more equitably allocate visas in subsequent years and create a government-wide Coordinator for Climate Resilience position.
More than 100 hundred organizations recently sent a letter to Congressional leaders voicing support for the legislation.
The Immigration and Refugee News Digest 