This report examines the capacity of financial institutions in climate migrant receiving communities to support and integrate migrants in three case study sites in the US Gulf Coast: Houston, Texas, where migrants relocated from Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Orange and Osceola Counties surrounding Orlando, Florida, where migrants from Puerto Rico relocated after Hurricane Maria in 2017; and northern Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes, where migrants from southern coastal regions relocated in response to ongoing sea level rise and environmental degradation.

This study examines what financial services and related assistance receiving communities provided to climate migrants before, during, and after migration events and assesses long-term changes in financial outcomes for receiving communities by examining the credit health of residents over time.

This report is one of five studies of climate migration and institutional impacts in the Climate Migration and Receiving Community Institutional Capacity in the US Gulf Coast project, which examines impacts to housing markets, financial institutions and financial health, employment and economic development, health care systems, and social, cultural, and recreational institutions.

Why This Matters

The results of this study provide insights on how financial institutions in receiving communities can better prepare for future arrivals of migrants due to climate change.

Key Takeaways

• Financial services in each of the receiving communities were limited upon the arrival of climate migrants.
• Government and community-based organizations ramped up the number and breadth of services provided upon migrants’ arrival, but some communities had not encountered many of the challenges that arose, such as migrants' lack of identification and documents, language and cultural barriers, assets and accounts that could not be fully accessed, credit barriers, and increased costs of living.
• Few organizations have grown their capacity since the initial arrival of migrants, and the demand for financial health services may still outweigh what is available.
• There is little evidence that the arrival of climate migrants had any impact on the credit scores and delinquency rates of residents of Central Florida, suggesting that Central Florida was able to accommodate migrants’ arrival without negative effects on the receiving community.

How We Did It

This study used both qualitative and quantitative data. For the qualitative component, interviewers collected information from representatives of various community financial institutions to understand the scope of support provided in receiving communities. This included interviewing stakeholders from government institutions, community-based organizations, and financial institutions. For the quantitative component, our analysis was restricted to Central Florida, using data from a major credit reporting firm to measure any changes in residents’ financial well-being over time.