Abstract
We examine Latino citizen children in mixed-status families and how their physical health status compares to their U.S. citizen, co-ethnic counterparts. We also examine Latino parents’ perceptions of state immigration policy and its implications for child health status. Using the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey (n = 1493), we estimate a series of multivariate ordered logistic regression models with mixed-status family and perceptions of state immigration policy as primary predictors. We find that mixed-status families report worse physical health for their children as compared to their U.S. citizen co-ethnics. We also find that parental perceptions of their states’ immigration status further exacerbate health disparities between families. These findings have implications for scholars and policy makers interested in immigrant health, family wellbeing, and health disparities in complex family structures. They contribute to the scholarship on Latino child health and on the erosion of the Latino immigrant health advantage.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Vargas ED. Immigration enforcement and mixed-status families: the effects of risk of deportation on medicaid use. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2015;57:83–9.
Ybarra VD, Sanchez LM, Sanchez GR. Anti-immigrant anxieties in state policy: the great recession and punitive immigration policy in the American states, 2005–2012. State Polit Policy Q. 2015:1532440015605815.
Enriquez LE. Multigenerational punishment: shared experiences of undocumented immigration status within mixed-status families. J Marriage Fam. 2015;77(4):939–53.
Anderson KF, Finch JK. Racially charged legislation and latino health disparities: the case of Arizona’s S.B. 1070. Sociol Spectr. 2014;34(6):526–48.
Valdez CR, Padilla B, Valentine JL. Consequences of Arizona’s immigration policy on social capital among Mexican mothers with unauthorized immigration status. Hisp J Behav Sci. 2013;35(3):303–22.
Cavazos-Rehg PA, Zayas LH, Spitznagel EL. Legal status, emotional well-being and subjective health status of Latino immigrants. J Natl Med Assoc. 2007;99(10):1126.
Gonzales RG, Suárez-Orozco C, Dedios-Sanguineti MC. No place to belong: contextualizing concepts of mental health among undocumented immigrant youth in the United States. Am Behav Sci. 2013:0002764213487349.
Salas LM, Ayón C, Gurrola M. Estamos traumados: the effect of anti-immigrant sentiment and policies on the mental health of Mexican immigrant families. J Community Psychol. 2013;41(8):1005–20.
Androff DK, Ayon C, Becerra D, Gurrola M. US immigration policy and immigrant children’s well-being: the impact of policy shifts. J. Soc Soc Welf. 2011;38:77.
Markides KS, Coreil J. The health of hispanics in the southwestern United States: an epidemiologic paradox. Public Health Rep. 1986;101(3):253.
Franzini L, Ribble JC, Keddie AM. Understanding the hispanic paradox. Ethn Dis. 2001;11(3):496–518.
Riosmena F, Dennis JA. A tale of three paradoxes: the weak socioeconomic gradients in health among hispanic immigrants and their relation to the hispanic health paradox and negative acculturation. In: Angel J, Torres-Gil F, Markides K, editors. Aging, health, and longevity in the Mexican-origin population. Springer US; 2012. p. 95–110.
Iván A. Perinatal outcomes among Mexican Americans: a review of an epidemiological paradox. Ethn Dis. 2002;12:480–7.
Flores G, Fuentes-Afflick E, Barbot O, Carter-Pokras O, Claudio L, Lara M, McLaurin JA, Pachter L, Gomez FR, Mendoza F, Valdez RB. The health of Latino children: urgent priorities, unanswered questions, and a research agenda. JAMA. 2002;288(1):82–90.
Canino G, Koinis-Mitchell D, Ortega AN, McQuaid EL, Fritz GK, Alegría M. Asthma disparities in the prevalence, morbidity, and treatment of Latino children. Soc Sci Med. 2006;63(11):2926–37.
Lopez-Gonzalez L, Aravena VC, Hummer RA. Immigrant acculturation, gender and health behavior: a research note. Soc Forces. 2005;84(1):581–93.
Johnson MA, Marchi KS. Segmented assimilation theory and perinatal health disparities among women of Mexican descent. Soc Sci Med. 2009;69(1):101–9.
Campbell K, Garcia DM, Granillo CV, Chavez DV. Exploring the Latino paradox how economic and citizenship status impact health. Hisp J Behav Sci. 2012;34(2):187–207.
Viruell-Fuentes EA, Miranda PY, Abdulrahim S. More than culture: structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health. Soc Sci Med. 2012;75(12):2099–106.
Vega WA, Rodriguez MA, Gruskin E. Health disparities in the Latino population. Epidemiol Rev. 2009;31(1):99–112.
Krieger N. Theories for social epidemiology in the 21st century: an ecosocial perspective. Int J Epidemiol. 2001;30(4):668–77.
Berkman LF, Kawachi I, Glymour MM, editors. Social epidemiology. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2014.
Navarro V, Shi L. The political context of social inequalities and health. Soc Sci Med. 2001;52(3):481–91.
Navarro V, Muntaner C, Borrell C, Benach J, Quiroga Á, Rodríguez-Sanz M, Vergés N, Pasarín MI. Politics and health outcomes. Lancet. 2006;368(9540):1033–7.
Williams GH. The determinants of health: structure, context and agency. Sociol Health Illn. 2003;25(3):131–54.
Dreby J. The burden of deportation on children in Mexican immigrant families. J Marriage Fam. 2012;74(4):829–45.
Landale NS, Hardie JH, Oropesa RS, Hillemeier MM. Behavioral functioning among Mexican-origin children does parental legal status matter? J Health Soc Behav. 2015;56(1):2–18.
Oropesa RS, Landale NS, Hillemeier MM. Family legal status and health: measurement dilemmas in studies of Mexican-origin children. Soc Sci Med. 2015;138:57–67.
Flores G, Bauchner H, Feinstein AR, Nguyen US. The impact of ethnicity, family income, and parental education on children’s health and use of health services. Am J Public Health. 1999;89(7):1066–71.
Probst JC, Wang JY, Moore CG, Powell MP, Martin AB. Continuity of health insurance coverage and perceived health at age 40. Med Care Res Rev. 2008;65(4):450–77.
Fisher-Owens SA, Isong IA, Soobader MJ, Gansky SA, Weintraub JA, Platt LJ, Newacheck PW. An examination of racial/ethnic disparities in children’s oral health in the United States. J Public Health Dent. 2013;73(2):166–74.
Frieden TR. CDC Health disparities and inequalities report-United States, 2013. Foreword. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, DC: 2002). 2013;62:1–2.
Zsembik BA, Fennell D. Ethnic variation in health and the determinants of health among Latinos. Soc Sci Med. 2005;61(1):53–63.
Fry R, Passel JS. Latino children: a majority are US-born offspring of immigrants. Washington: Pew Hispanic Center; 2009.
Zayas L. Forgotten citizens: deportation, children, and the making of American exiles and orphans. New York: Oxford University Press; 2015.
Orrenius, P, Zavodny, M. How do e-verify mandates affect unauthorized immigrant workers?” Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Research Department, Working paper 1403. 2014. https://www.dallasfed.org/assets/documents/research/papers/2014/wp1403.pdf.
Amuedo-Dorantes C, Pozo S. On the intended and unintended consequences of enhanced US border and interior immigration enforcement: evidence from Mexican deportees. Demography. 2014;51(6):2255–79.
Brabeck K, Xu Q. The impact of detention and deportation on Latino immigrant children and families: a quantitative exploration. Hisp J Behav Sci. 2010;32(3):341–61.
Capps, R, Castañeda RM, Chaudry A, Santos R. Paying the price: the impact of immigration raids on America’s children. Washington, DC: National Council of La Raza; 2007. http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/411566-Paying-the-Price-The-Impact-of-Immigration-Raids-on-America-s-Children.PDF.
Gubernskaya Z, Bean FD, Van Hook J. (Un) Healthy immigrant citizens naturalization and activity limitations in older age. J Health Soc Behav. 2013;54(4):427–43.
Doering J, Horner P, Sanders L, Martinez R, Lopez W, Delva J. Testimonial engagement: undocumented Latina mothers navigating a gendered deportation regime. J Int Migr Integr. 2014;17:1–6.
Horner P, Sanders L, Martinez R, Doering-White J, Lopez W, Delva J. “I put a mask on” the human side of deportation effects on Latino youth. J Soc Welf Hum Rights. 2014;2(2):33–47.
Miranda J, Siddique J, Der-Martirosian C, Belin TR. Depression among Latina immigrant mothers separated from their children. Psychiatric Services. 2005.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Francisco I. Pedraza for developing the survey question “Thinking about the immigrant population in your state, would you describe [STATE] policies as favorable or unfavorable towards immigrants?”.
Funding
The project described is supported, in part, by a NICHD training grant to the University of Wisconsin–Madison (T32HD049302) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institutes of Health, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Appendix
Appendix
See Table 2.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vargas, E.D., Ybarra, V.D. U.S. Citizen Children of Undocumented Parents: The Link Between State Immigration Policy and the Health of Latino Children. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 913–920 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0463-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0463-6