Migration Policy Institute Podcasts

The coordinated global response to climate change-driven displacement is relatively new. Just a few decades ago, virtually no governments were paying attention to the ways in which people were being displaced by extreme weather, sea-level rise, and other climate events. Although the international response remains a work in progress, significant strides have been made to bring the world together.

One of the people responsible for th...

Sudan is experiencing the world's largest displacement crisis, with nearly 14 million people forcibly displaced by civil war, famine, and acute food insecurity. Yet the scale of suffering has not translated into proportionate global attention or funding: the Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan remains only 10 percent funded, leaving a gap of more than $1.4 billion.

In this episode of World of Migration, John Thon Majok, Director o...

The FIFA 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, is the largest in history and first to be co-organized by three countries. Yet for international fans, ever stricter U.S. immigration admissions and enforcement policies have introduced layers of uncertainty around whether they can attend at all.

In this episode of World of Migration, host Ariel G. Ruiz Soto speaks with veteran sports journalist Albert Sam...

Climate change can be devastating for individuals’ health and safety. Climate-linked natural disasters can cause physical injuries and damage health-care systems, while slow-onset changes such as sea-level rise can lead to the spread of disease and make it harder for people to obtain care.

In that context, leaving a climate-vulnerable place can potentially lead to better health outcomes—but only under the right circumst...

Cuba is facing one of its deepest economic crises in decades, and the United States has significantly narrowed the legal pathways that once made it the primary destination for Cuban migrants. As a result, migration patterns are shifting across the Americas in ways the region is not yet prepared to manage. In this episode of World of Migration, host Valerie Lacarte speaks with María José Espinosa Carrillo, Executive Director of Cent...

Climate change is making home insurance more expensive and less available, as the multibillion-dollar losses caused by hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters increase in scale. Rising insurance premiums can push some people to relocate or force others to either pay more money to remain in their home or go without insurance and risk catastrophe if disaster strikes. Residents, insurance companies, and policymakers in high-income ...

Refugees are often some of the people most vulnerable to climate change. After fleeing armed conflict or persecution, many refugees end up in camps located in rural areas, with few resources and little support. That can leave them vulnerable to floods, storms, extreme heat, or other impacts of climate change.

This episode focuses on these impacts, with insights from Ayoo Irene Hellen, a South Sudanese refugee in Uganda and climate ...

Why has immigration become so politically divisive – and why is it so difficult for governments to design policies that satisfy both public concerns and economic needs?

In this episode, MPI’s Meghan Benton speaks with Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and a member of the UK's Migration Advisory Committee. Drawing on insights from her new book, What Is Immigration Polic...

Nearly 28 million U.S. residents, more than half of whom are U.S. citizens, reported limited proficiency in English as of 2023. How government agencies at all levels communicate with multilingual publics can have significant consequences for public s...

As states begin to take up the U.S. Secretary of Education’s offer to apply for waivers to their obligations under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, there are significant implications for English Learner (EL) students around the country.

In July 2025, the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter encouraging states to seek waivers ...

As humanitarian protection needs grow amid near-record displacement globally, labor migration pathways offer another route to safety and stability for qualified refugees while helping meet destination countries’ skill needs. In practice, however, qualified refugees can struggle to qualify for work visas due to poorly designed frameworks or operational practices. The circumstances of their displacement can make it impossible t...

With the world’s lowest fertility rate and one of the fastest-aging populations, South Korea is confronting a shrinking workforce and mounting economic pressures. Immigration has become part of the policy conversation, but questions remain about how much it can help and how Korean society will adapt to diversity.

In this World of Migration episode, our Lawrence Huang speaks with Juyoung Jang, chief of the Policy Research Depa...

Many Indigenous people have a deep connection to their ancestral homelands that dates back centuries. What happens when climate change and other factors force them to move away from those lands? This episode discusses issues affecting Indigenous people, especially in the Americas. Our guest is environmental scientist Jessica Hernandez, a climate justice and Indigenous advocate. She discusses the factors compelling migration for Ind...

Climate change is driving and altering migration in a variety of ways. Patterns of human movement often differ in the face of fast-moving environmental disasters such as floods and wildfires, versus slow-onset changes including extreme heat, drought, and sea-level rise. Other factors, including the resilience of a community’s infrastructure and their dependence on agricultural livelihoods, can help determine whether, when, an...

Africa may be the most climate-vulnerable region of the world, with drought, extreme heat and storms, and other impacts affecting millions across the continent. These environmental events have forced people from their homes and in some cases even contributed to conflict between different groups. By far, most climate-affected individuals who migrate stay either within their own country or go elsewhere on the continent, rather than m...

During the first year of his second term, President Donald Trump and his administration moved to enact sweeping changes to all corners of the U.S. immigration system. A mass deportations campaign that touched cities across the United States with an unprecedented show of force. Pause to refugee resettlement and asylum case processing. Bans and restrictions on legal immigration from 39 countries. Creation of a Trump “gold card&...

Counselling and reintegration assistance have become central tools for European governments aiming to incentivize and support the uptake of assisted return among migrants facing a return order. In recent years, the European Union has allocated more resources to strengthening these mechanisms, and Dutch policymakers have similarly undertaken efforts to encourage assisted return. Yet the actual influence of actions on ...

Foreign aid budgets have been slashed significantly by governments in the United States, Europe, and beyond, raising questions about what humanitarian assistance will look like in practice. Recent and abrupt funding cuts by major donors are already affecting refugee-hosting countries, where resources were strained even before these changes.

In this episode of World of Migration, host Lawrence Huang speaks with Micheal Gumisiriza, a...

It is not guaranteed that someone harmed by a natural disaster or other environmental change will leave their home. A complicated web of factors affects whether climate-vulnerable individuals want to—or even can—move. One of these factors is financial: How much money or other resources someone has at their disposal.

In this episode, we speak with Kelsea Best of The Ohio State University about climate (im)mobility and th...