Dataset Information

The adverse health effects of punitive immigrant policies in the United States: A systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Immigrants in the United States (US) today are facing a dynamic policy landscape. The Trump administration has threatened or curtailed access to basic services for 10.5 million undocumented immigrants currently in the US. We sought to examine the historical effects that punitive laws have had on health outcomes in US immigrant communities.

Methods

In this systematic review, we searched the following databases from inception-May 2020 for original research articles with no language restrictions: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Cochrane Library (Wiley), Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate), CINAHL (EBSCO), and Social Work Abstracts (Ovid). This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42019138817. Articles with cohort sizes >10 that directly evaluated the health-related effects of a punitive immigrant law or policy within the US were included.

Findings

6,357 studies were screened for eligibility. Of these, 32 studies were selected for inclusion and qualitatively synthesized based upon four themes that appeared throughout our analysis: (1) impact on healthcare utilization, (2) impact on women's and children's health, (3) impact on mental health services, and (4) impact on public health. The impact of each law, policy, mandate, and directive since 1990 is briefly discussed, as are the limitations and risk of bias of each study.

Interpretation

Many punitive immigrant policies have decreased immigrant access to and utilization of basic healthcare services, while instilling fear, confusion, and anxiety in these communities. The federal government should preserve and expand access for undocumented individuals without threat of deportation to improve health outcomes for US citizens and noncitizens.

SUBMITTER: Vernice NA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7744052 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The adverse health effects of punitive immigrant policies in the United States: A systematic review.

Vernice Nicholas A NA Pereira Nicola M NM Wang Anson A Demetres Michelle M Adams Lisa V LV

PloS one 20201216 12

<h4>Background</h4>Immigrants in the United States (US) today are facing a dynamic policy landscape. The Trump administration has threatened or curtailed access to basic services for 10.5 million undocumented immigrants currently in the US. We sought to examine the historical effects that punitive laws have had on health outcomes in US immigrant communities.<h4>Methods</h4>In this systematic review, we searched the following databases from inception-May 2020 for original research articles with n ...[more]

PMID: 33326463

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe civil war between the indigenous Mayans and other Guatemalans lasted for 36 years, killed civilians, decimated villages, and resulted in many refugees. The Guatemalan Peace Agreement of 1996 aimed to alleviate the ongoing conflict. Studies of peace agreements more typically evaluate local political outcomes while neglecting global health outcomes.ObjectiveOur research quantified associations between pre-migration exposure to the peace agreement in Guatemala and the post-migration health status of Guatemalan immigrants in the United States.MethodsWe used chi-square tests to compare the distribution of health status before and after peace. We used ordered probit regressions to estimate associations between peace in Guatemala and health in the United States, conditional on the observed distributions of age, age squared, age cubed, and linear time trends before and after peace.FindingsThe study sample included 4,115 female and 5,282 male Guatemalan immigrants between the ages of 15 and 85. The mean age was 38.8 years for females (standard deviation, 14.2) and 35.4 years for males (standard deviation, 12.6). Chi-square tests found statistically significant differences in the distribution of health status before and after the peace agreement, for females (P < .001) and males (P < .001). In unadjusted results, the peace agreement was associated with a 7.3 percentage point increase in excellent post-migration health for females (95% confidence interval, 4.9 to 9.8) and a 6.0 percentage point increase for males (95% confidence interval, 3.8 to 8.2). In adjusted results, we found that the peace agreement was associated with a 6.1 percentage point increase in excellent post-migration health for females (95% confidence interval, 0.8 to 11.4) and a 5.5-percentage point increase for males (95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 10.0).ConclusionsThe peace agreement in Guatemala was associated with statistically significant improvements in the health status of Guatemalan immigrants to the United States.

Project description:BackgroundHaitians immigrate to the United States for many reasons, including the opportunity to escape political violence. The extant literature on Haitian immigrant health focuses on post-migration, rather than pre-migration, environments and experiences. Objective: In this study, we analyze health outcomes data from a nationally representative sample of Haitian immigrants in the United States from 1996 to 2015. We estimate age-adjusted associations between pre-migration residence in Haiti during the repressive regimes and generalized terror of Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier, who ran Haiti from 1957 to 1986.MethodsWe used ordered probit regression models to quantify age-adjusted associations between the duration of pre-migration residence in Haiti during the Duvalier regime, and the distribution of post-migration health status among Haitian immigrants in the United States. Findings: Our study sample included 2,438 males and 2,800 females ages 15 and above. The mean age of males was 43.5 (standard deviation, 15.5) and the mean age of females was 44.7 (standard deviation, 16.6). Each additional decade of pre-migration residence in Haiti during the Duvalier regime is associated with a 2.9 percentage point decrease (95% confidence interval 0.6 to 5.3) in excellent post-migration health for males, and a 2.8 percentage point decrease (95% confidence interval, 0.8 to 4.8) for females. Within the subsample of Haitian immigrants with any pre-migration residence in Haiti during the Duvalier regime, each additional decade since the regime is associated with a 3.3 percentage point increase (95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 5.5) in excellent post-migration health for males, and a 2.3 percentage point increase (95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 4.1) for females.ConclusionsOverall, we found statistically significant and negative associations between the Duvalier regime and the post-migration distribution of health status 10 to 57 years later. We found statistically significant and positive associations between the length of time since the Duvalier regime and post-migration health.

Project description:BackgroundWhile many researchers document the immediate and localized health effects of armed conflicts on combatants are well documented in the literature, less is known about the effects of armed conflict on individuals who have subsequently migrated elsewhere. Objective: This study aims to estimate associations between pre-migration armed conflict in Central America and post-migration health in the United States.MethodsWe created a new dataset that combines information on armed conflicts in Central America and immigrant health in the United States. We used ordered probit regressions to estimate age-adjusted associations between pre-migration armed conflict and post-migration health.FindingsThe study sample of Central American immigrants included 15,563 females and 16,236 males between the ages 15 and 69. The mean age was 37.2 years (standard deviation, 11.6 years) for females and 35.5 years (standard deviation, 11.2 years) for males. After adjusting for age, pre-migration armed conflict was associated with a 8.6 percentage point decrease in excellent health for females (95% confidence interval, 6.0 to 11.1), and a 7.3 percentage point decrease for males (95% confidence interval, 4.0 to 10.7). Each decade of pre-migration armed conflict was associated a 2.9-percentage point decrease in excellent health for females (95% confidence interval, 2.0 to 3.8) and a 1.6-percentage point decrease for males (95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 2.6). For those individuals exposed to armed conflict, each decade since the most recent armed conflict was associated with a 1.5 percentage point increase in excellent health for females (95% confidence interval, 0.4 to 2.5). For males, the average marginal effect of decades since last conflict was not statistically significant (95% confidence interval, -0.001 to 0.002).ConclusionsPre-migration armed conflict in Central America is associated with decreases in excellent post-migration health in the United States. The effects of armed conflict are cumulative and fade over time for females.

Dataset Information

The adverse health effects of punitive immigrant policies in the United States: A systematic review.

Background

Methods

Findings

Interpretation

Publications

The adverse health effects of punitive immigrant policies in the United States: A systematic review.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets