TCO’s bibliography of public health research that considers immigration legal status

The fate of immigration reform legislation this year remains uncertain (See below for more information).  What is certain, however, is that immigration policy, in its current and future forms, will always have a tremendous impact on the rights, resources, and safety, and, ultimately, the health of immigrants in the United States.  Public health professionals and immigrants rights activists will have to make critical assessments of how existing and proposed policies may protect or harm the health of our nation’s immigrants. Knowledge is needed for these efforts.  However, there is very little information about how immigration policies affect public health.

The Curious Ostrich’s Immigration-to-Health Policy Framework lays out the many ways in which policies may impact immigrant communities.  We now offer our readers the Undocu-Bibliography, a collection of articles in the public health literature that consider the social environment faced by undocumented individuals – from access to health care to stigma and stress. The bibliography was compiled through searches on Pubmed, a free database of biomedical research run by the United States National Library of Medicine.  We ran queries for articles on undocumented individuals that explicitly consider immigration legal status and how it affects well-being. This means that this bibliography focuses on studies that have conducted some form of analysis to assess the connections between immigration legal status and health.  Studies of undocumented individuals that gave only brief mention to the factors that impact lives of undocumented peoples were not included.

The Undocu-Bibliography reflects the current focus of public health research on undocumented individuals: the majority of articles focus on access to health care issues. While an important factor in health, it is but a small contributor to the collection of factors that can affect people’s health. Worth reading are articles highlighted in yellow that provide a deeper analysis of social and political factors that play a large role in the health of undocumented people.

This living, working, evolving document will include a compilation of academic public health studies that consider undocumentedness.  Our goal is to create a resource that is useful for researchers and advocates. In the long term, we hope to create a record of the important research in this area and support further work in this area. We encourage readers to send us suggested additions to this bibliography.  If you are interested in learning more about where we found these articles and how we selected them, please check out our methods.  If you need assistance viewing and using this bibliography, please contact us at ostrichblog@gmail.com.   

News update: Immigrant rights activists rally Oct 5th

Action on immigration reform may happen yet!  Immigrant activists all over the country rallied on Saturday, October 5th in 90 events at cities across the nation to demand legislation this year.  The biggest event took place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the iconic site of so many important civil rights struggles.  The National Park Service, technically on furlough because of the shut-down, opened up the Mall in the name of First Amendment rights to allow thousands of marchers to take the public space and demand “respect for our hard work and for the many contributions we make to the nation’s culture, economy, communities, and faith.” Similar marchers and rallies took place from Fresno, CA to the Twin Cities.  

While action is stalled at the National level, California has been leading the way in passing state-level pro-immigration legislation. The New York Times Editorial page has hailed this series of laws as a model for states to enact positive legislation in the context of federal inaction.  Among the bills signed this month by Gov. Jerry Brown, was a bill for drivers licenses for all in California and the TRUST Act, which would prevent cooperation with ICE in some circumstances.

Reasons to March, Reasons to Run

By Gardenia Casillas, Maria-Elena Young, and Daniel Madrigal

Joaquin Luna came to the US as an infant.  In high school he began applying to college with a dream of becoming an architect or civil engineer. In his application he is confronted with many questions: Are you a US citizen? No. A Resident? No. Social Security number? None. The pressure to support his family through an education and not being able to afford it are overwhelming. At 18 he takes his own life.

José Antonio Elena Rodríguez walks along the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Mexico. At the same time local US Border Patrol agents are chasing two drug dealers. In the chaos, the agents fire several shots towards the border. Six bullets tear through his body, leaving him dead.

Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, a pregnant 17-year old pruned vineyards in Lodi, CA. One particularly hot day, the sun is too much. She loses consciousness into the arms of her fiancée who works with her. The job did not provide basic safety protections including drinking water, shade, or training on how to deal with heat. She dies of heat stroke.

As public health professionals our goal is to keep people healthy and we often believe that everyone has the right to be healthy – that neither a person’s race, gender, nor socioeconomic status should be a predisposition to good health. There are many factors that prevent this ideal from being attained. Sometimes, laws and policies are the factors that prevent good health. US immigration policy is one example of a factor that creates an underclass of people with fewer rights, fewer resources, and less safety. Joaquin, Jose and Maria are victims of US immigration policy.

On a daily basis, immigration policy shapes the social and political environments in which immigrants and their families live. Yet, as the public debate over immigration continues, rarely do we hear discussion of the enormous impact of immigration policy on the health of immigrants.  Policies influence the circumstances of immigrant’s lives, specifically their rights, resources, and safety.  Take a minute to answer the following questions for yourself:

> Can immigrants access appropriate and affordable health care services?
> Are there protections for the rights of immigrant workers to ensure fair wages and safe workplaces?
> Are immigrant children able to attend schools and universities?
> Do immigrants feel respected and safe in their communities?

All of these questions are decided by specific federal, state, and local policies that expand or limit the rights and resources that determine the opportunities for immigrants and their families, as well as their overall safety in this nation as they pursue those opportunities.  When protective factors – such as access to health and educational services – align, immigrants will experience greater health and well-being. The lack of any or all three of these, such as limited access to employment and educational opportunities, stress and fear due to discrimination and anti-immigrant legislation, or vulnerability to violence, result in significant health risks.

On April 17th, 2013, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 was officially introduced in the United States Senate.  This bill, if passed, would significantly change our current immigration policy context.  It has the potential to offer a pathway, albeit a long one, to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.  However, it also introduces harsh enforcement measures, such as increased militarization of the US-Mexico border and mandatory implementation of an electronic employment verification system.  The National Immigrant Law Center provides an excellent overview and analysis on their website.

Immigration policy is health policy, and those interested in working to create healthy and strong communities should pay attention. Given the potential positive and negative impacts of the proposed immigration bill, this is the time for public health professionals to be active in the policy process, making critical assessments of how existing and proposed policies may protect or harm the health of our nation’s immigrants!

Creating just policies that provide a pathway to citizenship will provide immigrants with rights, resources, and safety. It means that undocumented individuals and their family members will be able to live without being afraid that their immigration status will backfire and that they will be deported. It means that undocumented students no longer have to hide in the shadows, it means that farm workers will be able to bargain wages sitting as equals at the negotiation table, it means that youth and community members will be able to stand up against toxic hazards.

Fortunately, the Bay Area is a hub of activity with many passionate individuals fighting for a more equal system. We encourage you to stand in solidarity with immigrants is to finally address the systemic exclusion. First, on Wednesday May 1st, there will be a large parade winding through Oakland. It will start at Fruitvale BART Station at 3:30pm.. The second event will be a 5k Run/Walk for Migrant Justice put on by 67 Sueños, a youth led organization out of Oakland. The event will take place May 4th at 11AM at Lake Merritt’s at the Pergola. For more details check out run.67suenos.org.

If you think the system is unfair, unjust, and unhealthy, come out to support the movement for equity. Let your voice be heard!

Republicans submit faux-DREAM Act proposal, the Plight of Domestic Workers, and the History of US Immigration Laws

Senators Jon Kyl and Kay Bailey Hutchison (Getty Images)

Post-presidential election paths to immigration reform are emerging

In the presidential election Mr.Obama won the Latino and Asian vote by a large margin. Post-election analysis has suggested that Mr. Romney’s hard line approach to immigration was a major factor for the gap. He was never able to present a convincing argument to these constituencies and maintain his “self-deportation” strategy. There now appears to be consensus between the two major political parties that immigration reform should be a priority. Democrats may feel like they have a mandate, while Republicans understand they won’t be able to win elections without receiving more of the Latino and Asian vote.

Republicans are pushing forward two immigration measures, the ACHIEVE ACT and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Bill. The ACHIEVE Act was introduced by Jon Kyl of Arizona and Kay Bailey Hutchison and would create a new visa for undocumented youth. The ACHIEVE act requires that applicants arrive before the age of 14, instead of age 16 as specified in the DREAM act. The visa holders would also be prohibited from federal student loans or any other kind of public benefits. Another bill the Republicans are pushing is the STEM Bill which would create visas for advanced degree graduates. These visas would be taken from another program that promotes immigration from low-immigration countries. There will likely be many months of wrangling between Republicans and Democrats before we see the new immigration reforms. These policies continue to offer minimal relief, and would end up causing many more problems in the long term.

Immigration status and affects domestic workers’ pay

A new report on pay and working conditions from the National Domestic Workers Alliance has found that undocumented domestic workers are worse off than citizen domestic workers. Undocumented workers on average receive 20% less pay, are more likely to be required to do strenuous work, more likely to be injured on the job, and more likely to work while injured. The current immigration policies weaken worker protections and create situations across the country where immigration status is exploited by employers.

23 moments of immigrant policy in the United States
ABC News and Univision have created summary of 23 pieces of legislation that have shaped the US’s current immigration policy, starting with the Naturalization Act of 1790. The article is a glimpse into the complicated and shameful history of US immigration law.