Skip to main content
Log in

The Consequences of Migration to the United States for Short-Term Changes in the Health of Mexican Immigrants

  • Published:
Demography

Abstract

Although many studies have attempted to examine the consequences of Mexico-U.S. migration for Mexican immigrants’ health, few have had adequate data to generate the appropriate comparisons. In this article, we use data from two waves of the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS) to compare the health of current migrants from Mexico with those of earlier migrants and nonmigrants. Because the longitudinal data permit us to examine short-term changes in health status subsequent to the baseline survey for current migrants and for Mexican residents, as well as to control for the potential health selectivity of migrants, the results provide a clearer picture of the consequences of immigration for Mexican migrant health than have previous studies. Our findings demonstrate that current migrants are more likely to experience recent changes in health status—both improvements and declines—than either earlier migrants or nonmigrants. The net effect, however, is a decline in health for current migrants: compared with never migrants, the health of current migrants is much more likely to have declined in the year or two since migration and not significantly more likely to have improved. Thus, it appears that the migration process itself and/or the experiences of the immediate post-migration period detrimentally affect Mexican immigrants’ health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abraído-Lanza, A. F., Armbrister, A. N., Flórez, K. R., & Aguirre, A. N. (2006). Toward a theory-driven model of acculturation in public health research. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1342–1346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abraído-Lanza, A. F., Chao, M. T., & Flórez, K. R. (2005). Do healthy behaviors decline with greater acculturation? Implications for the Latino mortality paradox. Social Science & Medicine, 61, 1243–1255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acevedo-Garcia, D. (2001). Zip code–level risk factors for tuberculosis: Neighborhood environment and residential segregation in New Jersey, 1985–1992. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 734–741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antecol, H., & Bedard, K. (2006). Unhealthy assimilation: Why do immigrants converge to American health status levels? Demography, 43, 337–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barquera, S., Durazo-Arvizu, R. A., Luke, A., Cao, G., & Cooper, R. S. (2008). Hypertension in Mexico and among Mexican Americans: Prevalence and treatment patterns. Journal of Human Hypertension, 22, 617–626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bzostek, S., Goldman, N., & Pebley, A. (2007). Why do Hispanics in the USA report poor health? Social Science & Medicine, 65, 990–1003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter-Pokras, O., Zambrana, R. E., Yankelvich, G., Estrada, M., Castillo-Salgado, C., & Ortega, A. N. (2008). Health status of Mexican-origin persons: Do proxy measures of acculturation advance our understanding of health disparities? Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 10, 475–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro, F. G. (2013). Emerging Hispanic health paradoxes. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 1541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ceballos, M., & Palloni, A. (2010). Maternal and infant health of Mexican immigrants in the USA: The effects of acculturation, duration, and selective return migration. Ethnicity & Health, 15, 377–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contreras, D. (2003). Poverty and inequality in a rapid growth economy: Chile 1990–96. Journal of Development Studies, 39, 181–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornelius, W. A. (2001). Death at the border: Efficacy and unintended consequences of US Immigration Control Policy. Population and Development Review, 27, 661–685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creighton, M. J., Goldman, N., Pebley, A. R., & Chung, C. Y. (2012). Durational and generational differences in Mexican immigrant obesity: Is acculturation the explanation? Social Science & Medicine, 75, 300–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crimmins, E., Soldo, B. J., Kim, J. K., & Alley, D. E. (2005). Using anthropometric indicators for Mexicans in the United States and Mexico to understand the selection of migrants and the “Hispanic paradox.” Social Biology, 52, 164–177.

  • Finch, B. K., & Vega, W. (2003). Acculturation stress, social support, and self-rated health among Latinos in California. Journal of Immigrant Health, 5, 109–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gathmann, C. (2008). Effects of enforcement on illegal markets: Evidence from migrant smuggling along the southwestern border. Journal of Public Economics, 92, 1926–1941.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovey, J. D. (2000). Acculturative stress, depression, and suicidal ideation in Mexican immigrants. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 6, 134–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hummer, R. A., Benjamins, M., & Rogers, R. (2004). Racial and ethnic disparities in health and mortality among the US elderly population. In R. Bulatao & N. Anderson (Eds.), Understanding racial and ethnic differences in health in late life: A research agenda (pp. 53–94). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, L. M., Schneider, D., & Comer, B. (2004). Should “acculturation” be a variable in health research? A critical review of research on U.S. Hispanics. Social Science & Medicine, 59, 973–986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • INEGI (2003). Síntesis metodológica de los Censos de Población y Vivienda [Methodological synthesis from the population censuses]. Retrieved from http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/metodologias/censos/sm_economicos.pdf

  • Jasso, G., Massey, D. S., Rosenzweig, M. R., & Smith, J. P. (2004). Immigrant health: Selectivity and acculturation. In N. B. Anderson, R. A. Bulatao, & B. Cohen (Eds.), Critical perspectives on racial and ethnic differences in health in late life (pp. 227–266). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaestner, R., Pearson, J. A., Keene, D., & Geronimus, A. T. (2009). Stress, allostatic load, and health of Mexican immigrants. Social Science Quarterly, 90, 1089–1111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, W. A., & Donato, K. M. (2009). Does unauthorized status reduce exposure to pesticides? Work and Occupations, 36, 367–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lara, M., Gamboa, C., Kahramanian, M. I., Morales, L., & Bautista, D. (2005). Acculturation and Latino health in the United States: A review of the literature and its sociopolitical context. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 367–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luis-Ávila, J., Fuentes, C., Tuirán, R. (2001). Índices de marginación, 2000 [Marginalization indexes]. Del. Benito Juárez, Mexico: Consejo Nacional de Población (CONAPO).

  • Marmot, M., & Bell, R. (2012). Fair society, healthy lives. Public Health, 126, S4–S10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., & Sanchez, M. (2010). Broken boundaries: Creating immigrant identity in anti-immigrant times. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nandi, A., Galea, S., Lopez, G., Nandi, V., Strongarone, S., & Ompad, D. C. (2008). Access to and use of health services among undocumented Mexican immigrants in a US urban area. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 2011–2020.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orrenius, P., & Zavodny, M. (2009). Do immigrants work in riskier jobs? Demography, 46, 535–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oza-Frank, R., Stephenson, R., & Venkat Narayan, K. M. (2011). Diabetes prevalence by length of residence among US immigrants. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 13, 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prentice, J. C., Pebley, A. R., & Sastry, N. (2005). Immigration status and health insurance coverage: Who gains? Who loses? American Journal of Public Health, 95, 109–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riosmena, F., & Dennis, J. A. (2012). 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 J. L. Angel, F. Torres-Gil, & K. Markides (Eds.), Health and health care policy challenges for aging Latinos: The Mexican-origin population (pp. 95–110). New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riosmena, F., Wong, R., & Palloni, A. (2013). Migration selection, protection, and acculturation in health: A binational perspective on older adults. Demography, 50, 1039–1064.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubalcava, L., & Teruel, G. (2006). User’s guide for the Mexican Family Life Survey First Wave. Retrieved from http://www.ennvih-mxfls.org

  • Rubalcava, L., Teruel, G., & Thomas, D. (2009). Investments, time preferences, and public transfers paid to women. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 57, 507–538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubalcava, L., Teruel, G., Thomas, D., & Goldman, N. (2008). The healthy migrant effect: New findings from the Mexican Family Life Survey. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 78–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siddiqi, A., Zuberi, D., & Nguyen, Q. C. (2009). The role of health insurance in explaining immigrant versus non-immigrant disparities in access to health care: Comparing the United States to Canada. Social Science & Medicine, 69, 1452–1459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • StataCorp. (2011). Stata statistical software: Release 12. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teitler, J. O., Hutto, N., & Reichman, N. E. (2012). Birthweight of children of immigrants by maternal duration of residence in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 75, 459–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuirán, R., Fuentes, C., Ávila, J. L. (2002). Índices de intensidad migratoria México-Estados Unidos, 2000 [Intensity of Mexico-US migration indexes.]. Del. Benito Juárez, Mexico: Consejo Nacional de Población (CONAPO).

  • Ullmann, S. H., Goldman, N., & Massey, D. S. (2011). Healthier before they migrate, less healthy when they return? The health of returned migrants in Mexico. Social Science & Medicine, 73, 421–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) (2006). Illegal immigration: Border-crossing deaths have doubled since 1995; Border Patrol’s efforts to prevent deaths have not been fully evaluated (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. GAO.

  • Vargas Bustamante, A., Fang, H., Garza, J., Carter-Pokras, O., Wallace, S., Rizzo, J., & Ortega, A. (2012). Variations in healthcare access and utilization among Mexican immigrants: The role of documentation status. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 14, 146–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viruell-Fuentes, E. A. (2007). Beyond acculturation: Immigration, discrimination, and health research among Mexicans in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 65, 1524–1535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viruell-Fuentes, E. A., Miranda, P. Y., & Abdulrahim, S. (2012). More than culture: Structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health. Social Science & Medicine, 75, 2099–2106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (2000). Obesity: Preventing and managing the global epidemic. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, R., Palloni, A., & Soldo, B. J. (2007). Wealth in middle and old age in Mexico: The role of international migration. International Migration Review, 41, 127–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, K., Ravndal, F., Evans, D. B., & Carrin, G. (2009). Assessing the reliability of household expenditure data: Results of the World Health Survey. Health Policy, 91, 297–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zambrana, R. E., & Carter-Pokras, O. (2010). The role of acculturation research in advancing science in reducing health care disparities among Latinos. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 18–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge support for this project from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD051764, R24HD047879, R03HD040906, and R01HD047522) and from CONACYT-SEDESOL (2004-01). We would like to thank Germán Rodríguez for statistical advice and Erika Arenas for assistance in data collection and preparation of the data set for this analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Noreen Goldman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Goldman, N., Pebley, A.R., Creighton, M.J. et al. The Consequences of Migration to the United States for Short-Term Changes in the Health of Mexican Immigrants. Demography 51, 1159–1173 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-014-0304-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-014-0304-y

Keywords

Navigation