To advance environmental justice, we must integrate immigrant justice

By Chispa Senior Director Estefany Carrasco-González 

We recently marked the 83rd anniversary of the shameful executive order that authorized Japanese internment camps in our nation during World War II (Feb 19). Most of those interned were U.S. citizens, and the order was a violation of civil rights and based on racism against an entire community. 

Unfortunately, though decades ago, this awful history is not only in the past. It is repeating itself today. Our immigrant communities are presently dealing with numerous indiscriminate executive orders and actions targeting immigrants from the Trump Administration. There are plans for increased militarization and mass deportations that tear our families apart and terrorize our children. The plans even include setting up a migrant operations center at Guantanamo Bay, a shocking, inhumane, and unprecedented move, and suspending legal representation for unaccompanied children. 

They are just getting started, too, as the Trump administration is moving to cut more budget resources for education, children, and working families to fund many more immigration raids in our neighborhoods and to place the military in more of our communities.

The repercussions of these immigration actions will be felt across our nation for years to come – in our families, neighborhoods, economy, democracy, and environmental justice movement. 

Climate Justice and Immigration Justice are Intertwined

As we navigate the complexities of our immigration system, we must include immigration matters within our work toward environmental justice. Climate change exacerbates existing inequalities worldwide, and it fuels forced migration. Immigrant communities who then seek to build new lives in the U.S. also often live on the frontline of the effects of climate change and related environmental injustices—dealing with extreme heat, dirty air, heavy traffic corridors, high energy costs, toxic jobs and homes, exposure to water contaminants, and the resulting disproportionate conditions like asthma and poor health.

This intersection of environmental and immigrant justice weighs heavily on many of us in this work. We feel the effects and the work from both angles. The historic and current attempts to dismantle the systems we have been building together in search of a better nation for all of us have real consequences for ourselves as immigrants or from immigrant families and for real people we know – from families and communities struggling to afford life-saving air conditioning in extreme summer heat to the same communities constantly targeted for racist actions and language from our national leaders including casual and callous Valentine’s Day threats, to designating English as the official language of the U.S.

An Opportunity for Community-led Action

“Our communities have agency and a powerful history that inspires and keeps us going.”

But we cannot afford to look away. This intersection presents an opportunity for solidarity and collective action. 

Our communities have agency and a powerful history that inspires and keeps us going. When we look back, we see our ancestors who were the keepers of the land, and we know they faced many challenges and stayed strong to get us here. When we look forward, we see our children who will inherit this land, whether in the U.S. or other countries, and we know we must continue, too. It starts with the power of community-led solutions. 

I continue to admire our fierce organizers and community across our Chispa state programs, like the Promotoras from Chispa Maryland, who are advocating for environmental justice policies at the Maryland state Capitol, our Chispa Nevada members fighting for clean and affordable energy for their communities, and our Chispa Texas members traveling to Austin for clean water solutions—all actively participating in decision-making processes that affect their lives, in the middle of national chaos. Chispa Arizona visited the state Capitol to fight for access to public transportation, public lands, clean air and water, and other environmental justice policies. And Conservation Colorado just graduated 11 new young EJ leaders in its Climate Leaders Academy, building climate justice leadership skills for the future.

At Chispa and LCV, we will continue centering and supporting our organizers on the ground. They are the environmental justice leaders working to make their communities better, greener, and more inclusive in every way. We will continue working for environmental justice solutions with our states and partners as they navigate local policies related to clean air, clean water, and greener spaces, such as our current fight to protect EPA clean bus funding to local school districts. And we’ll keep speaking up when our communities are affected, such as the Trump Administration EPA’s decision to dismantle the Office of Environmental Justice.

Sharing Know Your Rights Resources 

We will keep sharing and providing tools and resources to help our communities understand their rights as they navigate our current new reality and defend others, such as immigration Know Your Rights resources from trusted partners:

• USCRI Know Your Rights and Safety Planning
• Know Your Rights from Catholic Legal Immigration Network
• CHIRLA Know Your Rights
• Know Your Rights from Asian Law Caucus
• Red Cards from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center
• ACLU Know Your Rights
• Know Your Rights from SEIU’s iAmerica campaign
• Popular Democracy Know Your Rights Community Defense Toolkit

(The above list is not intended to cover all resources available, but examples of resources that communities may refer to for guidance and assistance.) 

Our Communities are targets, but we are ready

The Trump administration’s executive orders on immigration threaten all of our civil liberties, and it is no coincidence that, similarly to climate change impacts, the harms fall disproportionately on low-income communities of color.

Seeking environmental justice centers communities of color and is an expression of our democracy. Some may be seeking to squash our work, but we aren’t going to let them. Our communities are moving forward because we all know what is at stake: our well-being, futures, and even our lives. 

I invite you to join us and stay involved, from sharing resources and visiting your state Capitol to advocating for policies that integrate all of us. A better, more sustainable world is possible when we stand together, united in our commitment to protecting our planet and all its people, regardless of immigration status.