In 1957, the Capelinhos volcano began its submarine explosion, damaging houses and farmlands. For the next 13 months, the eruption caused violent explosions, raining ash, and earthquakes throughout the Azores Islands.
In response, on September 2, 1958, the United States passed the Azorean Refugee Act. The Act offered protection to 1,500 Portuguese nationals who were impacted by a volcanic eruption in the Azores Islands, a small cluster of islands 1500 km off the coast of Portugal.
At the time, U.S. immigration operated under a national quota system. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, the number of visas available was calculated as a percentage of foreign nationals present in the United States, based on the 1920 Census. While Europeans were broadly favored for immigration compared to other regional groups, southern Europeans were less favored for immigration because they were viewed as unskilled and less “assimilable” compared to northern Europeans. For Portugal, that meant that only 438 immigrant visas were available for its nationals, annually.
But Azorean migrants contributed to U.S. trade and farming during the country’s early history. Azorean men joined the Massachusetts whaling industry, as the Azorean islands were a crucial stop for whaling ships. During the California Gold Rush, Azoreans migrated west and settled there as sheepherders and farmers.
When the eruption of Capelinhos resulted in destroyed homes and livelihoods, Senators John Pastore of Rhode Island and John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts co-sponsored a bill that offered a safe home to Azoreans affected by the natural calamity. That bill became law in 1958 and was renewed in 1960, extending protection to an additional 2,000 refugees. The Azorean Refugee Act led to a renewed wave of Azorean immigration to the United States.
The Azorean Refugee Act offered protection to Azoreans who were “unable to return” to their homes due to the “natural calamity” on the Azores Islands. This was the first time that the United States enacted a formal immigration response to a natural disaster. At the time, the 1958 Act was a necessary ad hoc response, since no tool yet existed in the U.S. immigration system to protect people who were unable to safely return to their homes.
People displaced by climate change today face the same protection gap. Since 1990, the U.S. Government has used Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to offer some groups temporary protection from deportation when safe return is impossible due to natural disasters. For example, Nepal was designated for TPS in 2015 due the country’s institutional challenges in ensuring safety after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated Kathmandu. But TPS is temporary and is not an adequate method of protecting people whose homes and livelihoods have become permanently unsustainable due to climate change.
This is why USCRI has consistently advocated for a new humanitarian pathway for people displaced by climate change. Existing refugee law does not offer predictable protection for people displaced by climate-related environmental disaster. But committing to humanitarian principles, including the principle of non-refoulement (prohibition against unsafe forced returns), means committing to finding new ways to protect people in need.
The Azorean Refugee Act of 1958 is a historic first and its legacy should be continued. In recognition of a dire environmental situation, lawmakers offered long-term protection to people who lost homes, farmlands, and jobs. We can do so again.
