Who loses public health insurance when states pass restrictive omnibus immigration-related laws? The moderating role of county Latino density

Abstract

In the United States, there is widespread concern that state laws restricting rights for noncitizens may have spillover effects for Latino children in immigrant families. Studies into the laws' effects on health care access have inconsistent findings, demonstrating gaps in our understanding of who is most affected, under what circumstances. Using comparative interrupted time series methods and a nationally-representative sample of US citizen, Latino children with noncitizen parents from the National Health Interview Survey (2005-2014, n = 18,118), this study finds that living in counties with higher co-ethnic density placed children at greater risk of losing Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program coverage when their states passed restrictive state omnibus immigrant laws. This study is the first to demonstrate the importance of examining how the health impacts of immigration-related policies vary across local communities.

Latinos’ deportation fears by citizenship and legal status, 2007 to 2018

“…Despite accumulating evidence of deportation fears among Latino U.S. citizens and noncitizens, we know surprisingly little about whether and how these fears manifest nationally and over time. Research using population-representative administrative or survey data has linked changes to deportation policy or practice with negative consequences for Latino U.S. citizens' and noncitizens' behavioral (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27), mental health (28)(29)(30)(31)(32), and physical health (33)(34)(35). In each study, a structural factor-for example, the national deportation rate-is linked to an outcome of interest-such as increased rates of psychological distress-and deportation fear is assumed to underlie any observed association.…”

Stringent immigration enforcement and the mental health and health‐risk behaviors of Hispanic adolescent students in Arizona

“…Many previous findings are related to the theory of social construction public policy (Schneider et al, 2014), which our study also uses as a conceptual framework to analyze SB 1070's mental health and health risk behavior consequences. Allen (2018) examines the impact of passage of restrictive omnibus immigration‐related laws on the health insurance status of Hispanic children with citizenship status, but with noncitizen parents. Her findings validate a decrease in coverage for Hispanic children in counties where Hispanic residents comprise more than 15% of the population.…”

Immigration Enforcement and Infant Health

“…For instance, Watson (2014) shows how immigration enforcement, as captured by the number of deportations, had a chilling effect on Medicaid take-up rates of eligible low-SES citizen children with non-citizen mothers. In a similar vein, follow-up studies have reinforced how tougher immigration policies interfere with migrants' proper access to health care (Allen and McNeely, 2017;Allen, 2018;Perreira and Pedroza, 2019). Through its documented impact on migrants' health and access to care, intensified interior immigration enforcement may, in turn, result in poor birth outcomes and have long lasting damaging impacts on these children.…”

“…We did not detect a statistically significant relationship. (Allen and McNeely, 2017;Allen, 2018;Arenas-Arroyo, 2018, 2019;Bansak, 2012, 2014;Bohn, Lofstrom and Steven, 2015;Churchill, 2020;Heyman, Nuñez and Talavera, 2009;Kostandini, Mykerezi, and Escalante, 2013;Nuñez and Heyman, 2007;Orrenius and Zavodny, 2015;Perreira and Pedroza, 2019;Potochnick, Chen and Perreira, 2017;Rugh and Hall, 2016;Watson, 2014). Any one of these circumstances can increase anxiety and stress levels affecting migrants' and their families' health and overall wellbeing, as documented by Shu-Huah Wang and Kaushal (2019) and Szkupinski Quiroga, Medina, and Glick (2014), among others.…”