Buscando la Calma Dentro de la Tormenta: A Brief Review of the Recent Literature on the Impact of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric and Policies on Stress Among Latinx Immigrants

Abstract

The mental health burden associated with anti-immigrant rhetoric and ever-changing immigration policies is undeniable, though the psychological and emotional sequalae may remain invisible for years to come. Exclusionary immigration policies, as a form of structural racism, have also led to an epidemic of stress-related health within the Latinx community, particularly the Latinx immigrant community, across the United States. Recent examples of anti-Latinx and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies include the 45th President's implementation of the Zero Tolerance policy, Migrant Protection Protocols, and Title 42. The recognition of previous and existing anti-immigrant policies, and the impact on Latinx immigrants, is critical in understanding the manifestation of psychological stress to prevent it from becoming chronic. For mental health providers, attention to existing policies that can be detrimental to the Latinx immigrant community is essential to understanding their mental health trajectory and applying frameworks that honor an individual's psychological stress to prevent pathologizing the immigrant experience and negative health outcomes. The objective of the present brief review is to shed light on recent research and offer recommendations for practice (eg, educating the Latinx community about the link between the immigrant experience and psychological stress) and policy (eg, drafting of legislation aimed at rescinding harmful immigration policies) regarding the relation between aggressive anti-immigration rhetoric and psychological stress among Latinx immigrants in the United States.

Cultural stress is toxic stress: An expanded cultural stress theory model for understanding mental health risk in Latinx immigrant youth.

“…By shaping Latinx immigrant youth’s experiences with racism/discrimination and initiating the racial/ethnic socialization processes that help them respond to these experiences, cultural stressors impact Latinx immigrant youth’s sociocultural environment in a way that influences their self-identity. Although some of the resultant changes to Latinx immigrant youth’s self-identity may be positive and foster psychological well-being, a fast-growing body of literature is demonstrating that the increase and persistence of anti-immigrant sentiments in the United States are adversely impacting Latinx immigrant youth’s self-identity and increasing their psychological distress (Rojas Perez et al, 2023; Slopen et al, 2023; Wray-Lake et al, 2018). As such, the aforementioned mechanisms are another likely pathway by which cultural stressors negatively impact Latinx immigrant youth’s mental health.…”

“…As these sentiments have become commonplace, Latinx immigrant youth have increasingly found themselves in communities that are hostile to them and their families. This hostility exacerbates Latinx immigrant youth’s feelings of “otherness” and prevents them from developing a sense of connectedness to their community (Gonzales et al, 2013; Perez, 2021; Rojas Perez et al, 2023; Venta et al, 2022; Wray-Lake et al, 2018). This disconnection and foreignness are often exacerbated when Latinx immigrant youth encounter these cultural stressors in the school setting.…”

Immigration status microaggressions: A moderated mediation analysis of cultural stress, fear, internalization, and psychological stress among Latinx and Asian college students.

“…Barrita, Chang, et al, 2023; Santos et al, 2021). The systemic oppression connected to immigration—and those seen as an immigrant threat—has been present in the United States for centuries (Chavez, 2013; Rojas Perez et al, 2023) but, over time, has become more normalized by a U.S. society that is racially polarized (Santos et al, 2021). While attitudes toward immigrants in the United States have improved (Pew Research Center, 2018), anti-immigrant oppression remains present based on systemic and individual processes of racialization that subject BIPOC such as Latinx and Asian people as perpetual foreigners that do not belong in the United States (A.…”

Migración y salud: el reflejo de la inequidad social global y la necesidad de investigación en salud pública

“…Incluso para la población migrante de latinos residentes en EUA, las políticas de inmigración excluyentes como una forma de racismo estructural también han llevado a una epidemia de problemas de salud mental relacionados con el estrés dentro de la comunidad latina. 10 La migración y el desplazamiento involuntario de muchos miembros de la familia, principalmente niñas y niños, se han convertido en características comunes del entorno debido a la pobreza generalizada en la que se encuentran inmersos, a la rápida urbanización de ambientes segregados, a su elevada tasa de desempleo, así como a la enorme inequidad social y económica que los motivan a buscar medios de vida lejos de sus lugares de origen. Adicionalmente, muchos de los acompañantes, con educación y habilidades limitadas, como grupo familiar, se vuelven más vulnerables socioeconómicamente y desde la perspectiva de género, lo que los expone a riesgos para la salud sexual y reproductiva.…”