Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric, Deteriorating Health Access, and COVID-19 in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Abstract

The Rio Grande Valley of Texas has an exceptionally high number of COVID-19 cases and case fatality rate. The region makes up only 3% of the Texas population but, as of April 2021, accounted for 9% of the state's COVID-19 deaths.Additionally, during the summer of 2020, the Rio Grande Valley had one of the highest per capita infection rates in the United States. This paper explores the social-ecological elements that impact health-seeking behaviors in this community using interviews conducted with healthcare personnel and nonprofit leaders in the Rio Grande Valley between 2019 and 2020. Using this data, we found that anti-immigrant rhetoric has increased levels of fear among immigrants and mixedstatus families, which has made them less willing to access healthcare. Additionally, we found that changes in the public charge rule has led to a decreasing number of children accessing government-provided health insurance. Our findings suggest that these outcomes likely contributed to the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Rio Grande Valley.

“Lived the Pandemic Twice”: A Scoping Review of the Unequal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants

“…A similar pattern was observed in another general Italian clinic, with women experiencing the sharpest decline (77%) in visits [ 35 ]. Elsewhere, the pandemic stretched the limited available medical resources even further, with asylum seekers facing additional barriers to access non-COVID care [ 31 , 40 , 49 ]. In the U.K., discontinuation and/or digitalisation of services meant asylum seekers and undocumented people struggled to access care [ 34 ].…”

“…The added insecurity and instability created by the pandemic combined with physical distancing, stay at home orders, and fear of infection generated even more social separation, loneliness, and isolation from their support circles [ 29 , 33 , 40 , 43 , 47 , 49 , 50 ], with women and girls [ 29 , 40 , 50 ] singled out as particularly badly affected. Fresh stigmatisation [ 29 ], xenophobia, and discrimination [ 31 , 45 , 47 , 50 ] fuelled by the pandemic and targeting asylum seekers and undocumented migrants also contributed to increased rates of social isolation among these groups.…”

Framing of COVID-19 in Newspapers: A Perspective from the US-Mexico Border

“…This region is also especially susceptible to HIV infection due to the enormous number of people passing through its border crossing points and the economic hardship that individuals and neighborhoods must endure [ 48 ]. Because of increased poverty, low rates of health insurance coverage, and significant numbers of immigrants from Latin America during a period when anti-immigrant stances in the US were on the rise, the RGV was well-positioned to suffer greatly from the coronavirus pandemic [ 49 ]. Thus, it makes us curious about how the news media in the RGV portrayed the pandemic and how much it differed from the coverage in a national newspaper.…”

Collateral Damage: Increasing Risks to Children in a Hostile Immigration Policy Environment

“…The rule caused significant fear and confusion among immigrant communities, creating chilling effects even for people and programs to which the rule did not apply. In the wake of the rule change, health care centers noted a reduction in immigrant patients seeking care for themselves and their children, and many observed immigrant parents disenrolling or declining to enroll their eligible children in public health insurance [ 33 , 34 ]. Twenty percent of adults in immigrant families with children, including 29% of those with low income, reported avoiding one or more noncash public benefits or other assistance with basic needs in 2020 due to concerns about potential ramifications for their immigration status.…”