Remote Sensing and Mass Migration Policy Development
Mass migration is a global problem affecting both displaced persons, their countries of origin, and the nations that voluntarily or involuntarily receive them. The 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy recognized the domestic and international perils that refugees and the underlying causes for their dislocation represent and acknowledged that future conflicts caused by scarce resources, environmental disasters, or refugees were possible.1 In his Congressional testimony regarding the 2010 Threat Assessment, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair expressed concern about the prospect of mass migration from Cuba or Haiti to the United States. He also warned that population movements caused by climate change could have a negative impact in India, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe within 20 years, resulting in broad national security consequences for the United States.2