The Global Immigration Crisis and Rising Protest Movements in 2024-2025

A world in motion faces unprecedented challenges as displacement reaches record highs and political tensions boil over

The Scale of the Crisis

The world is witnessing its largest displacement crisis in modern history. With an estimated 281 million international migrants worldwide, the number of displaced individuals due to conflict, violence, disaster, and other reasons has surged to the highest levels in modern-day records, reaching 117 million. This represents a staggering reality: more than one in every 50 people on Earth has been forced to leave their home.

In the last ten years, that population has increased by over 160%, reaching over 37.9 million people in 2024. The magnitude becomes even more sobering when considering that nearly half of all refugees in the world today come from just three countries, highlighting how concentrated conflicts and crises create massive human displacement.

Global Hotspots and Driving Forces

Major Displacement Crises

The refugee landscape is dominated by several ongoing conflicts and humanitarian disasters. Syria continues to be the largest source of refugees globally, with millions displaced both internally and across borders. Following the onset of conflict in 2023, the crisis in Sudan continued to worsen in 2024, creating one of the fastest-growing displacement situations.

Other significant crisis areas include:

Myanmar: Violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State displaced nearly 750,000 stateless Rohingya in just a few weeks. Ultimately, of the 1.3 million refugees from Myanmar, the Rohingya make up the majority (with over 1 million as we enter 2025).

Democratic Republic of Congo: In 2022, violence in the eastern provinces (particularly North and South Kivu) escalated, a trend that continued into the first months of 2024. Nearly a quarter of a million people were newly displaced (both internally and internationally) in the first three months of the year alone.

Eritrea: In the last decade, the global population of Eritrean refugees has more than doubled, with an estimated 559,000 people currently displaced. This represents about 15% of the country’s population.

Economic and Social Impacts

The economic dimensions of this crisis are equally staggering. International remittances surged by 650 per cent, from USD 128 billion to USD 831 billion between 2000 and 2022. Migrant remittances surpass foreign direct investment in boosting the GDP of developing nations. This demonstrates how migration has become a crucial economic lifeline for developing countries, even as it creates political tensions in destination countries.

Political Backlash and Policy Shifts

Developed Nations Tighten Controls

Leaders in countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United States claimed in 2024 that rising immigration was the cause of affordable housing crises, linking two issues hot on the minds of publics. This narrative has driven significant policy changes across the Western world.

Australia has committed to more than halving net immigration from a record high, implementing new caps for international students and tightening work visa requirements. Canada, facing housing affordability concerns, has similarly moved to reduce immigration targets despite previously planning to admit nearly 1.5 million new immigrants.

United States: After reaching a record high at the end of 2023, the monthly number of U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico has plummeted so far in 2024, with encounters dropping 77% from December 2023 to August 2024.

European Fortress Mentality

Europe has witnessed particularly dramatic policy shifts. Today, the immigrant share in many of the European Union’s 27 member nations approaches or exceeds that of the United States, which was 13.9 percent in 2022. It is roughly 20 percent in Sweden; 18 percent in Germany; 17 percent in Norway; 15 percent in the Netherlands; 11 percent in France and Denmark, and 10 percent in Italy.

Germany faces political upheaval ahead of its February 2025 elections, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expected to finish second. The party has gained traction by portraying migration as an existential threat to German culture.

Netherlands has moved toward border controls as part of a broader migration clampdown, led by Geert Wilders’ anti-Muslim nationalist PVV party. These measures include limiting asylum permits to three years and restricting family reunification.

Italy became the first EU country to have Albania process migrants on its behalf, while Spain paradoxically announced plans to legalize 300,000 undocumented immigrants annually over three years to address labor shortages.

The Protest Wave of 2025

United States: Mass Deportation Resistance

The most dramatic protest movements have emerged in the United States following President Trump’s return to office. Several protests broke out against United States President Donald Trump’s mass deportation of illegal immigrants following the start of his second presidential term on January 20, 2025. Large-scale protests have occurred in Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas.

The scale of these demonstrations has been unprecedented. Immigration-related demonstrations have reached a record high this year, according to analysis of ACLED data. So far in 2025, these protests have made up 27% of total reported events, marking a sharp increase from just 3% for all of 2024.

Los Angeles has become the epicenter of resistance. NBC News has counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast since Monday. The protests have been met with significant federal response, including President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to respond to immigration protests in Los Angeles and the deployment of 700 Marines.

Homeland Security said its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division had arrested 2,000 immigration offenders per day in recent days, far above the 311 daily average in fiscal year 2024 under former President Joe Biden.

European Resistance Movements

Germany has seen massive counter-protests against far-right politics. Around 160,000 gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, next to the Bundestag lower house, according to the Berlin police. The protesters held banners reading “We are the firewall, no cooperation with the AfD” and “Merz, go home, shame on you!”

These protests followed revelations about AfD plans for mass deportations. Tens of thousands had already braved sub-zero temperatures during the week to protest against the party after it emerged senior AfD members discussed a plan to deport migrants en masse in revelations that have been compared to the Nazi era.

The scale was remarkable: Nearly 100,000 people attended the rally in Munich at its peak on Sunday, local police said. Nearly 30,000 people gathered at the beginning of the Berlin protest, with more people arriving as the event continued.

The Violence and Escalation

Rising Extremist Violence

The protests have occurred against a backdrop of increasing violence against migrants and asylum seekers. According to provisional figures published by the Ministry of the Interior in response to an information request from the Left group (Die Linke) in parliament, there were 218 “politically-motivated attacks” against asylum accommodation facilities in 2024 in Germany alone.

In addition, there was an overall increase in crimes of an “extreme right-wing nature” from 28,945 in 2023 to 33,963 in 2024 in Germany, demonstrating how anti-immigration sentiment has translated into concrete violence.

Protest Confrontations

In Los Angeles, tensions have escalated dramatically. Protesters have hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, set vehicles on fire, defaced buildings and public property and set fire to American flags. The federal government has responded with military-style operations, deploying National Guard troops and Marines to support immigration enforcement.

Helmeted police in riot gear turned out on Friday evening in a tense confrontation with protesters in downtown Los Angeles, after a day of federal immigration raids in which dozens of people across the city were reported to be taken into custody.

The Human Cost

Beyond the political rhetoric and policy debates lies immense human suffering. Last year was the deadliest since 2017 for the central Mediterranean crossing used by migrants to reach Italy. In the English Channel, thousands continue to risk their lives crossing from France to Britain in overcrowded boats, with dozens of deaths reported throughout 2024.

The protests themselves reflect this human dimension. Union leaders and activists have been arrested while documenting immigration raids, and protesters include both undocumented immigrants and citizens standing in solidarity with immigrant communities.

Looking Forward: An Unsustainable Trajectory

The current situation represents a collision between humanitarian needs and political realities. Immigration has become Europe’s impossible issue, a threat to liberal democracy, social stability and economic growth. The same could be said for much of the developed world.

Several factors make the current trajectory unsustainable:

Economic Dependencies: Many developed countries rely heavily on immigrant labor, even as they implement restrictive policies. The contradiction between economic needs and political rhetoric creates ongoing tensions.

Climate Change: As climate-related displacement increases, the current crisis may be only the beginning of much larger population movements.

Democratic Institutions: The rise of far-right parties and increasingly authoritarian responses to protests threaten democratic norms and institutions.

International Cooperation: The breakdown of international cooperation on migration, evidenced by countries acting unilaterally rather than through multilateral frameworks, undermines global responses to what is fundamentally a global challenge.

Conclusion

The immigration crisis of 2024-2025 represents more than a policy challenge—it is a test of democratic values, international cooperation, and human solidarity. With displacement at record highs and political tensions escalating into street confrontations, the world stands at a crossroads.

The massive protest movements, from Berlin to Los Angeles, reflect both the depth of public concern and the stakes involved. Whether these demonstrations lead to more humane policies or further political polarization will largely determine how this crisis unfolds in the coming years.

What remains clear is that current approaches—characterized by unilateral action, military-style enforcement, and political scapegoating—are failing to address either the humanitarian needs of displaced populations or the legitimate concerns of receiving communities. A new framework for global cooperation on migration has never been more urgently needed.

As we move forward, the images of Marines deployed in Los Angeles and massive crowds protesting in Berlin will serve as stark reminders of this pivotal moment in global migration history—a moment when the world’s response to human displacement became a defining test of 21st-century democracy itself.