Beyond the Rhetoric: Examining the Impact of Immigration Policies on the Daily Lives of Latino Immigrants

Background & Purpose:

Numerous states have passed harsh anti-immigration policies which have gained national and international attention.  Arizona’s SB1070 was condemned by the United Nations for being hostile to immigrants (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2010).  Immigration enforcement has also increased, and as result, more immigrants have been detained and deported during the Obama Administration than any other administration in US history (Pew Hispanic Center, 2013).  Using Ecological Risk and Resiliency as the theoretical framework (Bogenschneider, 1996), the purpose of this paper was to examine how recent immigration policies and immigration enforcement strategies have impacted Latino immigrants in Arizona.

Methodology:

Data for this study were drawn from a pilot study (n=213) adult Latino immigrants living in Arizona during the summer of 2014.   The sample consisted of 29.1% males and 70.9% females, with a mean age of 37; slightly over 50% of the participants had less than a high school diploma; the mean number of years in the US was 18; and 59.4% of participants indicated their economic situation was “average.”   Fear of deportation was a 3 item scale (α= .82). The dependent variables in this study focused on participants’ perceptions of the impact of U.S. immigration policies on the daily lives of Latinos immigrants.   

Multivariate OLS linear regressions examined the relationship between fear of deportation and the impact of immigration policies on various aspects of daily life of Latino immigrants as a result of U.S. immigration policies, (controlling for gender, age, socioeconomic status (SES), level of education, and years in the US). 

Results:

The results indicated that Latino immigrants who reported a greater fear of deportation also significantly more likely to report: 1) trouble keeping a job (p < .01, CI .214, .892); 2) trouble finding a job (p < .01, CI .151, .851); 3) having been asked for immigration documents (p < .01, CI .191, .930); 3) that friends have suffered (p < .05, CI .025, .735); and 4) that their family has suffered (p < .01, CI .136, .829). 

Conclusions & Implications:

Participants in this study reported that as a result of immigration policies their friends and families have suffered, as well as having trouble keeping or finding a job.  This will negatively impact the social and economic wellbeing of the family and Latino immigrant communities.  This study found none of the control variables served as protective factors.  Becerra and colleagues (2013) found that certain factors such as gender, age, level of education, years in the US, and SES were protective factors against reporting negative impacts on the quality of life of Latinos, but used data collected in 2007.  Since then, numerous anti-immigration policies have been enacted which may have made it even more difficult for Latino immigrants in the US.    Although future research is needed with larger samples of Latino immigrants, social service agencies must make greater efforts to outreach to Latino immigrant communities in order to further assess their needs and provide appropriate and culturally grounded services.