Establishing and Maintaining Inclusive Emergency Management with Immigrant and Refugee Populations

The Establishing and Maintaining Inclusive Emergency Management with Immigrant and Refugee Populations Checklist is designed to help strengthen existing emergency preparedness plans by ensuring immigrants and refugees are part of any emergency response.

History demonstrates that residents of color are disproportionately impacted by disasters. In the Great Floods of 1927, over 330,000 African Americans were interned into 154 relief camps resulting in mass migration for basic shelter. Communities of color also have yet to fully recover from Hurricane Katrina (2005). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been significantly greater on communities of color across the U.S. with higher rates of infection and death than other demographic groups.

These cases and many others demonstrate time and again that the failure to establish and maintain inclusive emergency management can have disastrous consequences for both individual residents and for the community at large. Communities that prioritize an inclusive response to disasters are more resilient and less vulnerable due to equitable approaches to preparedness.