Session: Consequences of Immigration Status On Latinos: Implications for Social Work Policy, Practice and Research (Society for Social Work and Research 15th Annual Conference: Emerging Horizons for Social Work Research)

Immigration policy in the United States has become more restrictive and punitive as government policies have expanded intervention at the federal and local levels. These changes have contributed to create a hostile anti-immigrant climate that has disproportionately impacted the Latino community. Recent research by the Southern Poverty Law Center (2009) found that Latinos are “routinely cheated out of their earnings and denied basic health and safety precautions…are regularly subjected to racial profiling and harassment by law enforcement…are victimized by criminals who know they are reluctant to report attacks” (p. 4) all as a consequence of increasing anti-immigrant sentiments and restrictive immigration policies. More than 45 million people, greater than 15% of the U.S. population, identify as Latino (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Social workers play significant roles within the Latino community and serve as brokers between numerous systems. Increasing our understanding of the current impact of immigration policies on social work practice is imperative. This Symposium examines the effect of current immigration policies on Latino populations, on their economic and social well-being, and recognizes the strengths within Latino culture that may mitigate the negativity of harsh anti-immigrant policies and practices. The papers in this Symposium cover several aspects of the impact from current immigration policies and practice. The first paper analyzes a national sample of 2000 Latino adults living in the U.S. Using multivariate OLS linear regression, the relationship between perceived discrimination and perceptions of quality of life were examined. Findings included evidence of declining optimism, fear of deportation, and diminished hope for their children. The second paper analyzed qualitative data from 26 Latino immigrants reflecting their assessment of a new state policy which enforced the restriction of hiring undocumented workers. In addition to the intended consequence of restricting employment, participants shared that implementation of this new law has also led to unintended consequences such as exploitation, increased racial profiling, workplace raids, and intensified anti-immigrant sentiment and racism. The third paper provides a comparison of service use data from three groups of new mothers (N =188). The researchers examined service utilization by ethnicity and found that barriers to service increased due to immigrant status as evidenced through experiences of those who were Spanish-speaking mothers. The fourth paper examines results from Social Empathy Index surveys (N=294) administered to undergraduate and graduate students and compared attitudes towards social empathy by ethnicity. The analyses revealed a more collectivist nature of Latino culture and that in spite of a prevailing negative atmosphere of anti-immigrant and hence anti-Latino sentiments, Latino culture may provide protective factors that can enhance optimism and greater social empathy. Together, these four papers present research findings on the impact of immigration status upon Latinos from several perspectives. Symposium participants will gain deeper understanding into the implications of current anti-immigration policies and sentiments on social work practice and community well-being. Implications for further research will also be discussed.