Around the world, people are protesting against climate change and related environmental issues. This protest is welcomed in some areas, while activism can be deadly in others. When activists can no longer safely protest in their home country, they need a safe, legal means of escape. In the United States, asylum is one such means. Asylum grants protection for someone persecuted on account of their race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. These grounds are not statutorily defined, so the burden has fallen on immigration advocates to think and test asylum arguments in court. Notably, advocates have successfully expanded the applicability of asylum to include survivors of domestic violence.

Others in the field have written extensively about asylum for victims of climate change. As described in this article, this research utilizes cases like in New Zealand to expand the concept of harm. However, there has been less research on asylum for activists who protest environmental issues and are persecuted for doing so. This article argues for expanding the asylum framework for environmental activists by utilizing the domestic violence precedent and through a case study of the Yaqui. State and non-state actors have deprived the Yaqui of water rights for over a century. The argument focuses on political opinion and particular social group asylum while providing an overview of potential ideas on the other three grounds. It concludes by demonstrating that asylum opportunities are the backbone of productive environmental activism.

Continue Reading Escaping the Silence: Identifying Asylum Pathways for Environmental Activists Based on Domestic Violence Precedent