Right-wing media are distorting a statement from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the problems driving migration at the southern border and diminishing the role that climate change plays in displacing people, particularly in Central America. 

On a January 3 segment of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mayorkas told co-anchor Willie Geist that increased border crossings in December, and migration in general, have several root causes, including “the effects of climate change, poverty, increasing levels of authoritarianism.”

Right-wing media decontextualized Mayorkas’ statement and disputed the fact that climate change is partially responsible for increased migration

• The Federalist reporter John Daniel Davidson called the idea that climate change is contributing to an uptick in migration “nonsense.” “There’s been a lot of nonsense about the southern border going around lately from the usual suspects, starting with the Biden administration’s smug Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas,” wrote Davidson. He made no mention of Mayorkas referring to other contributing factors besides climate change, writing: “In two separate interviews last week, Mayorkas blamed the record number of illegal immigrants crossing into the country on climate change.” [The Federalist, 1/8/24]
   
• On Fox News' America’s Newsroom, host Dana Perino seemed to suggest that Mayorkas blamed record border crossings solely on climate change. “Secretary Mayorkas blamed December's record border crossings on climate change. Has that been your experience, from what you've heard?” Perino asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott replied that “the only change in climate has been the climate of enforcing immigration laws.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 1/4/23]
   
• Townhall political editor and Fox contributor Guy Benson called Mayorkas and Biden “gaslighters.” Benson posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Mayorkas blamed December's record high border crossings on ‘climate change.’ He then said TX sending a fraction of the illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities a ‘failure of governance.’ Biden is currently suing TX, telling them to butt out of immigration governance. Proudly derelict gaslighters.” [Twitter/X, 1/4/24]
   
• Former Trump official and Center for Renewing America senior fellow Jeff Clark: “Calls to mind what’s been attributed to P.T. Barnum: ‘There’s a sucker born every minute.’ Mayorkas thinks the American people are suckers for his border betrayal AND for climate change nonsense. Don’t be a sucker, voters.” [Twitter/X, 1/4/24]
   
• Fox Corp.'s OutKick reporter Ian Miller claimed there is “no evidence ‘climate change’ is playing any role in the never ending surge” of migrants. “The individual in charge is ready to blame anything else but himself and his president’s unbelievably inept handling,” wrote Miller of Mayorkas. [OutKick, 1/3/24]
   
• Right-wing reporter Nick Sortor, who has previously expressed far-right anti-immigrant sentiments, wrote, “These people genuinely think we’re stupid.” “Homeland Secretary Secretary Mayorkas was just asked why December was the highest month ON RECORD for illegal border crossings. His answer? ‘CLIMATE CHANGE.’ These people genuinely believe we’re stupid. Remove them all!” After the repeal of Title 42 immigration restrictions in May, Sortor said that migrants are causing an “environmental catastrophe” that the left doesn’t care about, and insinuated that migrants would soon turn the United States into a “Third World country.” [Twitter/X, 1/3/24; Media Matters, 5/24/23]
   
• Fox contributor Sean Duffy said on Fox Business’ The Bottom Line that Mayorkas is gaslighting Americans in suggesting climate change contributes to immigration. “Mayorkas is talking about the reason people are coming into the country is because of climate change. No, actually, they’ve opened the border up, they have allowed a pathway for people to come into Central America and get into the U.S. without much of a hassle. … Well, of course they are going to come, whether it’s climate change — no, it’s about the economics that America offers as opposed to the economics of their home country. And to think you can gaslight the American people to believe that it’s climate change is outrageous.” [Fox Business, The Bottom Line, 1/3/24]
   
• Fox correspondent Bill Melugin said that because none of the migrants he interviewed personally have mentioned climate change, it can’t be driving immigration. “Mayorkas partially blamed climate change. We have interviewed hundreds upon hundreds of migrants over the past several years. Literally not one time has a migrant ever blamed climate change for why they are coming here.” [Fox News, America Reports, 1/3/24]
   
• Grabien founder Tom Elliott: “DHS's @AliMayorkas blames ‘climate change’ for the Biden Admin allowing more illegal immigrants to enter American than the populations of the smallest 7 U.S. states combined.” [Twitter/X, 1/3/24]
   
• Fox host Sean Hannity posted to X, “'CLIMATE CHANGE?': Mayorkas Blames Climate for Record-Breaking 302K Migrant Encounters in December.” [Twitter/X, 1/3/24]
   
• Breitbart’s Bob Price argued that climate change was among the “excuses” for the Biden administration to evade responsibility for the issue. Price wrote, “In an interview on MSNBC, linked above, Mayorkas was asked why more migrants entered the U.S. illegally than in any other month in the history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Mayorkas responded with a litany of excuses, blaming everything except his administration’s refusal to enforce the immigration and border security laws of this nation and apply effective consequences to those who break these laws.” [Breitbart, 1/3/24]
   
• Washington Examiner’s Conn Caroll: “Let’s quickly establish what is causing the crisis — it’s not climate change — and what would be required to fix it.” [Washington Examiner, 1/3/24]

In fact, evidence suggests that climate change is a driving factor of migration from Central America

• Flooding and droughts are creating food shortages in the Central American Dry Corridor, which stretches across Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Increasingly erratic weather patterns are making it difficult for people to grow food and feed their families, and farming is increasingly viewed as being too risky. [NPR, 7/23/23; CBS, 2/17/21; Bloomberg, 5/21/23] 
   
• In Guatemala, up to 4.6 million people suffered food shortages in 2023. According to UNICEF, in 2022, nearly 44% of children in the country were below the normal height-for-age range. At the same time, “the number of Guatemalans arriving at the U.S. border soared fivefold from 2020 to 2022.” [Reuters, 10/12/23]
   
• Food insecurity is exacerbating conflict for already vulnerable populations. A recent study linked droughts and resulting food shortages to increased violence in urban areas along the Dry Corridor from 1996 to 2016. [Axios, 4/13/23]
   
• The U.N. estimates that “each year, natural disasters force an average of 21.5 million people from their homes around the world.” The Institute for Economics and Peace predicts that by 2050, over 1 billion people could be displaced because their home countries won’t be sufficiently prepared for climate disasters. [PBS, 7/28/22; The Guardian, 9/9/20]

The reactions come as the GOP moves forward with impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas

• After a nearly yearlong probe, Republicans in the House Committee on Homeland Security are seeking to impeach Mayorkas over his handling of immigration at the southern border. Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) accused Mayorkas of refusing to “enforce the laws passed by Congress” and failing to “fulfill his oath of office” to uphold the Constitution. [CNN, 1/7/24; Punchbowl News, 1/3/24]
   
• The committee is basing its grievances, in part, on wildly speculative numbers from a white nationalist-linked anti-immigrant think tank. Republican members of the House Committee on Homeland Security have claimed that migrant care and housing could cost taxpayers up to $451 billion using figures from the Center for Immigration Studies. Right-wing media have also echoed the think tank’s eco-fascist talking points when discussing immigration. [Media Matters, 12/5/23; Media Matters 5/24/23]