The Impact of U.S. Immigration Enforcement Policies, Rurality, and Militarization on Immigrant Families' Access to Services in a Border Community: A Qualitative Study

Background and Purpose: The consequences of restrictive immigration policies on immigrant families’ access to public benefits and social services have been well documented in research across multiple disciplines. The federal immigration enforcement and public benefit policy changes during the Trump administration placed additional barriers for service access among immigrant families. In Doña Ana County, New Mexico, where child wellbeing indicators, including poverty levels, educational access, and health access are the lowest in the state and country, access to public benefits and social services is even more crucial to child wellbeing. Yet, there is limited literature that conveys the interconnectedness between immigration enforcement policies, rurality, and immigrant service access, particularly for those with young children living along the U.S./Mexico border. The present study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the unique service barriers for immigrant families in the borderlands.

Methods: Researchers conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with 9 local/state government officials and 14 community agency leaders. Purposive and snowball sampling was utilized to recruit participants by reaching out to leaders working in early childhood and immigrant-serving community agencies and to local and state government representatives who are involved in the decision-making and implementation of programs and policies for families in the region. A qualitative thematic approach was utilized to analyze data from individual interviews. An initial codebook was created by two researchers and was member checked and revised using an iterative team process to arrive at common definitions of codes. All data was double-coded by two researchers.

Results: Nine major themes emerged from the data, falling into three focal areas: the impact of immigration policies on service access, service barriers in the border region, and local community and government responses. Interviews with participants revealed that federal restrictive immigration policy changes have had consequences for access to needed services for young children in immigrant families. The challenges have been exacerbated by the unique barriers experienced by immigrant families in the U.S./Mexico border region, including border checkpoints, CBP presence, and colonias—rural communities within the U.S.-Mexico border region that may lack basic living necessities. Despite the unique challenges facing these immigrant families, communities have responded by adopting local inclusive policies and practices to improve the access of families to services regardless of immigration status.

Conclusions and Implications: While the local government and community agencies have responded with their own policies and community-led efforts, immigrant families continue to be impacted by the larger federal and state policy context and challenges of living in a militarized border community. For example, possible encounters with U.S. border patrol and checkpoints place mobility limitations on immigrant families, cutting them off from central service providers. We suggest that program and policy designs aimed at mixed-status families, in areas along the U.S./Mexico border, need to create mechanisms to reach these families. Immigrant serving organizations must also continue to advocate for a statewide sanctuary policy and for the removal of border enforcement checkpoints and other abrasive tactics to improve access to service providers for this vulnerable population.