The Relationship between Immigration Enforcement and Mental Health Among Latino Immigrants

Background & Purpose:

Anti-immigration policies which have gained national and international attention have been passed by numerous states in the US.  During the Obama Administration more immigrants were deported than during any other administration in US history (Pew Hispanic Center, 2016) and President Trump has increased immigration enforcement through community raids, detentions, and deportations (Rein et al., 2017).  Previous studies have found that fear of deportation and immigration enforcement can have negative mental implications for Latino immigrants (Cavazos-Rehg, Zayas, & Spitznagel, 2007; Gonzales, Suarez-Orozco, & Dedios-Sanguineti, 2013).  Although policies like Arizona’s SB1070 have been mostly declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, many immigrants continue to be stopped and detained by immigration officials and local authorities through workplace and community raids.  Therefore, it is necessary to continue to examine the impact immigration enforcement has on Latino immigrants.  The purpose of this paper was to examine how interactions with immigration officials impacts the mental health Latino immigrants in Arizona.

Methodology:

Data for this study were drawn from a pilot study (n=417) adult Latino immigrants living in Arizona during the summer and fall of 2015.   The sample consisted of 40% males and 60% females, with a mean age of 35; over 60% of the participants had less than a high school diploma; the mean number of years in the US was 18; and 65.4% of participants indicated their economic situation was “average.”   Interaction with Immigration Officials was a 3-item scale-1) being asked to show immigration papers, 2) being stopped by immigration officials, 3) being detained by immigration officials (α= .82). The dependent variables in this study were Depression (7-item scale,  α= .91),  Anxiety (7-item scale, α= .94), and Stress (7-item scale, α= .96).  

Multivariate OLS linear regressions examined the relationship between interaction with immigration officials and the mental health of foreign born Latinos (controlling for gender, age, socioeconomic status (SES), level of education, and years in the US). 

Results:

The results indicated that Latino immigrants who reported greater interaction with immigration officials were also found to have significantly more symptoms of: 1) Depression (p < .001, CI(95%) .664, .972); 2) Stress (p < .001, CI(95%) .189, .644); 3), and  Anxiety (p < .001, CI(95%) .507, .930).

Conclusions & Implications:

As a result of increased interactions with immigration officials, participants have significantly greater symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.  These mental health issues may have deleterious consequences for Latino immigrant families and communities.  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 mental health needs.  In addition, social work research must continue to develop culturally grounded mental health interventions that use Latino cultural strengths to address mental health issues.  Social workers must also use findings such as these to continue to advocate for an end of deportations and for comprehensive immigration reform so that Latino immigrant families do not have to live in fear.