Environmental Migration,Public Perception,and Immigration Policy: Examining the Hidden Environmental Toll of Terror Hysteria

Abstract

Abstract

Recent Federal executive action has placed a temporary travel ban on several predominantly Muslim nations and has been accompanied by heightened concerns regarding assaults on religious freedom and anti-Muslim sentiments. A number of nations affected by the ban have suffered a catastrophic environmental collapse in recent years, including drought, the breakdown of the agricultural sectors, and famine, and have run concurrently with war, mass emigrations, and the breakdown of the state as a provider of basic security protections. While reviewing these conditions and considering U.S. public support and opposition to various types of immigration, we evaluate the travel ban specifically within the context of environmental migration. We conclude that policy, without nuance nor robust rationale, that disproportionately and wantonly targets African and Asian nations that have majority Muslim populations is an extension of what we label terror hysteria, and that by cloaking blanket immigration policy under the shroud of containing terror plays into cynicism and runs counter to public sentiments on immigration, and particularly the plight of environmental migrants.