Immigration enforcement: Local impacts of federal policy

[00:00:21]

ELENA RENKEN: Hello, everyone, and welcome to SciLine’s Media Briefing on the local impacts of immigration policy and enforcement changes. With heightened presences of federal officers, communities across the country are living their day to day lives very differently. There are many sides to this story. You could investigate how immigrants may change, how they participate in their communities or how their sense of well being or safety shifts with immigration enforcement. We’ll touch on a few research based sides of this evolving topic. Barriers for immigrants to access public services like health care, physical and mental health impacts of experiencing these shifts in immigration enforcement, effects on schools, and how these changes are influencing the economy. In addition to personal stories and government announcements, social science, economics, and many other kinds of research can point you to an array of reporting angles and sources of data, which are often included in our weekly newsletter on current news topics. You can sign up at SciLine.org.

My name is Elena Renken, and I’m SciLine’s journalism projects editor. I’ll be moderating the English-speaking portion of this briefing. I’m also joined here by Christian Monterrosa, who will moderate a Spanish-speaking portion toward the end of the briefing. Christian, do you want to introduce yourself?

[00:01:41]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Yes, thank you, Elena. Buenos días. Mi nombre es Christian Monterrosa. Soy el engagement manager de SciLine, y bienvenidos a nuestra sesión informativa para los medios y periodistas cubriendo temas de inmigración. Les invitamos a integrar sus preguntas usando el botón de preguntas y respuestas, o el Q&A. Y al final de la llamada tendremos oportunidad para preguntar en español a las expertas presentes hoy. Así que no se vayan y espero hablar con ustedes en unos minutos. Gracias, Elena.

[00:02:14]

ELENA RENKEN: To give you a bit of context about SciLine before we get into it, we are an editorially independent nonprofit based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and we’re funded by philanthropies. So all our services for journalists are free. Our mission is to make scientific evidence and expertise accessible for journalists in the course of your reporting on all sorts of topics. That might be stories explicitly related to science, like news about the flu or reporting on a beat like politics, where the science angles are less obvious but just as useful. More of our resources are available on sciLine.org. You can also click the blue “I Needed an Expert” button there anytime you need to speak with a scientific expert for your story, and we’ll look for a source with the right background to answer your questions before your deadline.

Now a couple of quick notes before we begin. I’m joined here by two experts who have studied immigration topics. I’ll let each of them introduce themselves and their topics of research. Dr. Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young, would you go ahead?

[00:03:15]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Hello. Good morning, or good afternoon. I’m Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young. I’m an associate professor of public health at UC Merced, and I’m a public health researcher whose research focuses on understanding the public health impact of the U.S. immigration system.

[00:03:32]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you. And Dr. Cecilia Menjívar, would you introduce yourself next?

[00:03:36]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes, and good morning, good afternoon. My name is Cecilia Menjívar, and I am a professor of sociology at UCLA, and my research focuses on the impacts of immigration laws, on different aspects of immigrant life, especially Latino immigrants across different states in the United States.

[00:04:00]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you. Before we begin taking audience questions, I’ll ask each of our panelists a few questions myself. Journalists, you can submit your English or Spanish questions at any time during the briefing. Just click that Q&A icon at the bottom of your Zoom screen and let us know if you’d like your question directed to a specific panelist. We’ll be posting a recording of this briefing on our website later today, and a transcript will be added in the next couple of days. With that, let’s begin. Maria-Elena, first, can I ask you, what barriers do immigrants face in accessing health care under these changing immigration policies?

[00:04:39]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Yeah. Well, to begin, barriers for immigrants are baked into our healthcare system in the United States. For decades, many groups of non citizens have been ineligible for federally funded public benefit programs like Medicaid and SNAP, which are essential for good health. Under federal law, states can opt to use their own funding to extend access to these vital healthcare programs. But what that means is that as we enter this moment of increased immigration enforcement, we have very different healthcare landscapes across the country. So that what it looks like as immigrant to seek healthcare in California is very different than in Florida.

So in the context of increased immigration enforcement, this barrier, this baseline barrier is deeply exacerbated. Families, individuals now have to contend with fear of potential immigration enforcement actions as they also seek and try to obtain needed medical care. And what some of my research has shown across U.S. states is that for noncitizens living in a state that does not extend from that federal baseline, does not make these benefits readily available for non citizens and that also engages with federal immigration agencies, collaborating with them. In those states, we actually see lower levels of health insurance and lower levels of access to care for non citizens.

[00:06:09]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you. And what health consequences do immigrants face if they avoid healthcare systems due to fear of enforcement?

[00:06:17]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Yeah. I mean, there’s really extensive, beyond any kind of immigrant health research, there’s extensive public health research that shows that if you don’t receive necessary preventative care, particularly at key moments in your development and your health, that you’re going to have worse longer term outcomes. And, again, going back to thinking about that baseline exclusion that we have in this country, in 25 of the states across the country, half of states, an undocumented woman cannot receive Medicaid to cover her prenatal care. In 37 states, undocumented children can’t use Medicaid to get basic preventative care. And so not receiving the care at those really crucial moments of development have longer term consequences.

I also want to point out that health care is just one part of our overall well being. And so even if immigrants are able to access care at this time, the stressors, the emotional and psychological distress coming from, sort of, fears around enforcement are also going to have long term consequences.

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ELENA RENKEN: Very good to know. Thank you. And how do health impacts and responses to immigration changes differ across age, immigration status, occupation, or community contexts? Are there any groups you’ve been keeping your eye on specifically?

[00:07:41]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Well, I think I can get into specific groups and their specific risk, but I really want to emphasize that at this moment, all groups, regardless of their age, their immigration status, their immigration community contexts, all of these groups are potentially at risk. Immigration enforcement is harmful to the health of everybody. And I know we’re in this very crucial moment right now in the country where there are national discussions around the role of ICE. My data from my research really shows that there is no really healthy way to run ICE or to have immigration enforcement. And I’ll just give a couple of key data points and then happy to get into this during the Q&A.

There have been multiple studies that have shown that U.S. citizens, people who have a right to be here, who are not at risk for being deported, when they have contact with the immigration system, whether this is seeing immigration agents in their communities, knowing somebody, losing a family member to deportation, those experiences are linked to an increased risk for psychological distress and poor mental health. And so in my other research, just looking across states, we see that U.S.-born individuals, including white U.S.-born individuals, people who are not being racially profiled at this point, if they live in states that have extensive agreements for local law enforcement to work with immigration authorities, they actually report worse health. And so the potential health harms are far reaching.

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ELENA RENKEN: Very good to know. And has your research explored any particular groups who you feel are most vulnerable or perhaps under reported in their stories?

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DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Clearly, I think any group that’s undocumented or is losing status is at extensive risk at this time. I just want to reinforce how the data consistently shows this almost very surprising what we often refer to as spillover effect of the threats of enforcement, really reach beyond even vulnerable groups who are the ones who are most at risk of actually experiencing deportation.

[00:09:54]

ELENA RENKEN: Those spillover effects are a really good point for journalists to look for as they’re continuing their reporting. And what’s known about how immigration enforcement and policy uncertainty affect mental health, including stress, anxiety, and the trauma of these communities?

[00:10:10]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Yeah. So I mean, right now, obviously, all eyes are on Minneapolis, and there’s clear evidence of things happening there that are violent and distressing. My research shows is that immigrant communities across the U.S. have long had extensive contact with immigration, the immigration system. And that that contact with the immigration system is linked to worse health outcomes.

So just to share a couple of numbers from my studies. Among Latino immigrants, this was a survey we did here in California, a population representative sample of Latino foreign born adults. Almost one in two knew somebody who had been deported. About 15% had ever been racially profiled by either law enforcement or immigration authorities. About 15% had ever seen an immigration agency in their neighborhoods. About one in four, 25%, had at some point stayed inside to avoid law enforcement. And in our analysis, what we found is that for each additional experience, each additional moment in your life where you’ve seen enforcement or somebody in your family has been harmed, that was associated with an increased risk in psychological distress.

[00:11:30]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you. These are useful numbers to really show how pervasive this kind of experience is and also some, kind of, mental health aspects to continue looking for in the long term as reporters. And let’s move on to you, Cecilia. To start off, how does national and state level political rhetoric influence immigrants’ sense of safety and belonging?

[00:11:56]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes, from stand research previous to the current enforcement situation we have, it has direct effects, as Maria-Elena was mentioning, direct effects on communities, families. Different members of families are affected in different ways. But at the same time, it does not really decrease much their sense of belonging, especially for mixed status families. Individuals in mixed status families, where there are U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, as well as undocumented immigrants, people on different immigration statuses, and these are immigrants who feel part of U.S. society. They are contributing economically, socially, culturally.

And so it does not completely erase a sense of belonging, especially when they see their children, the U.S.-born children, being affected. And so it does have an effect on safety, exactly as Maria-Elena was mentioning, on a sense of safety. People are not inclined to leave their homes, as we have heard already in the news also. But their sense of belonging and a sense of being part of communities here is very much still there.

[00:13:36]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you. That’s an interesting contrast, I think, for people to understand as they’re interviewing immigrants in these situations. And how do changing immigration policies impact the economy, and what sectors of the workforce are being affected the most?

[00:13:52]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes, on this topic, excuse me, the effects reverberate and go wide, deep and wide, and are direct and indirect. So the most probably, the most visible is the major loss of workers across immigration statuses in different sectors of the economies of different states. So California, Florida, New York, and Texas will have the highest number of job losses due to the larger immigrant populations in those states. And these job losses will concentrate in the service sectors, construction, maintenance, and manufacturing. In California, construction and agriculture are being directly disrupted. But there’s also a loss of tax revenue because immigrants contribute so much to the economies of the states where they concentrate. In California, for instance, undocumented immigrants. California has 10.6 million immigrants. 2.28 of them are undocumented. But undocumented immigrants contribute enormously to the California economy, and contribute directly to the GDP and taxes as well, billions of dollars in taxes. So loss of tax revenue will impact the economy.

There are also other impacts. Demographic impact with the current enforcement situation, there are fewer entries into the United States, and that is impacting the size of the population, but also the population of workers in all sectors, all skill levels. And there are estimates that net migration may stay the same or may even be negative for this year. And the last effect is cuts. Another indirect effect is cuts to adult education programs that employers have used to upskill their workers. That is not going to- that has been cut. And for instance, in the manufacturing and retail sectors, employers have partnerships with adult education programs to teach English on site to employees, and this is already cut. So there’s another indirect effect on the economy that way.

[00:16:53]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you. A lot of those points, those sectors and program cuts and revenue changes, all suggest specific stories that people could follow up on to me. And what evidence exists of chilling effects, like people avoiding schools or public services? And how is this observed in immigrant and in non immigrant communities?

[00:17:15]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: I have more information about immigrant communities, but I also want to underscore the broader effects on non immigrants, on US born citizens without a recent immigrant past. They are also affected. As we have seen, for instance, in Minneapolis with the case of the 5-year-old child who was taken by ICE, there his schoolmates were very much aware of who took their friend. And these are children who don’t have a recent immigrant past, but they are becoming very well aware of this, of immigration enforcement having an effect on their friends and classmates.

More broadly, there are multiple reports showing that ICE’s increased presence around school perimeters has led to absenteeism and fear in the classroom. In Los Angeles, L.A. Unified School District is experiencing sharp decreases in enrollment and at all levels, K through 12. So there are clear effects on immigrant children, children of immigrants, but also there is this indirect effect on non immigrant children and non immigrant students who see their classmates and their friends being affected directly by immigration enforcement. So yes, there is effect on school enrollments and absenteeism and just the fear of spending time in public spaces.

[00:19:22]

ELENA RENKEN: And how are local governments, schools, and service providers adapting to rapid policy changes like these?

[00:19:29]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: There are multiple responses. I don’t have data on the variety of responses at the local state levels. Different states are doing different things. I should mention other organizations in civil society, for instance, churches. Religious spaces that have historically played a pivotal role in the lives of immigrants, as religious spaces have provided welcoming resources to immigrants in need and those who just need spiritual support. They are responding and collaborating and cooperating with municipal governments in protecting immigrant children, immigrant families in different institutional spaces.

So there are those responses, but this is happening. This is very much in flux and there are also legislative legal activity around all these activities. So it’s very difficult to keep track, but there are responses coming from communities, civil society, and different levels of government.

[00:21:05]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you both so much. We’ll now begin asking questions to our experts from the audience, but I want to remind reporters on the line to submit those questions anytime using the Q&A box found at the bottom of the screen. My first question for both of you, how can reporters best characterize stories about immigration? Maria-Elena?

[00:21:28]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: I think for me, one of the things that’s really important when I, for example, talk with students who are learning about these issues, is to look into and explore a little bit the context in which things are unfolding. Issues of immigration enforcement, fear of enforcement have been a major part of many immigrant communities lives for decades now. And so that background and that context is really critical. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, that we already have so many laws on the books at the federal, state, and even local levels that are exclusionary to immigrants, and that is the context in which people are navigating how to get to work and how to get their kids to school and how to stay healthy when there’s surges of enforcement immediately in their communities. And so I think that context is vital.

[00:22:25]

ELENA RENKEN: And Cecilia?

[00:22:27]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes, I absolutely agree with Maria-Elena on that. And the context that Maria-Elena mentioned has to include both sides of the immigration system. The legislative side, where we have all the laws and policies that doesn’t always get the attention it needs that is critical. And then the enforcement side that we see more often, because it becomes more visible. But there’s so much behind the scenes that directly impact immigrants lives and non immigrants lives as well. For instance, cuts to educational programs, cuts to English language programs, cuts to access to healthcare. All of those are in the policy area that needs to be brought out in order to understand what happens with immigrants right now.

[00:23:31]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you for pointing out those intersections. First question we have is from Enlace Latino, North Carolina. “What are some helpful resources to gather data regarding health care and immigration or to be on the lookout for?”

[00:23:46]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Should I start?

[00:23:49]

ELENA RENKEN: Please go ahead, either of you, feel free to jump in.

[00:23:52]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: I mean, as a researcher, there are some incredible groups that are monitoring, tracking policy over time and different aspects of changing policies. For example, the National Immigration Law Center has maps that actually lay out what states, in which states have the states extended Medicaid for non citizens and undocumented immigrants. So I really encourage folks to check out the National Immigration Law Center. The other is the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. They have a lot of resources on enforcement policy at the state and local level to help get that context of what’s not just happening immediately from the federal government, but how does that intersect then with state and local policies. And they have a lot of, really they’re ready to go, maps and fact sheets that I think are really useful. I know as a researcher, I rely on them, so I think would be really useful for journalists.

[00:24:57]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Should I add some? I also want to mention a few think tanks that put out very good reports and data, credible data. The American Immigration Council, the Migration Policy Institute, they do reports based on legitimate data sources. There are many, many think tanks out there that are not the best for providing evidence based research. So I would recommend to go to those that use census data. They use research empirical data to inform on any issues.

[00:25:55]

ELENA RENKEN: Very well put. Another question here from Tucson Spotlight. “For either panelist, how much more vulnerable to these effects are undocumented immigrants versus immigrants with temporary visas?” Can either of you take that one?

[00:26:12]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: You want to start, Cecilia?

[00:26:13]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yeah. Right now, immigrants on temporary statuses are at very similar risks because those temporary statuses are being ended and taken away. So populations that have held temporary protected status, for instance, for a long time, when those protections end, those groups are moved into the undocumented population. And so they become a similar risk, at the same risk, as undocumented immigrants. And so there is a little bit of hope and protection for those who have any temporary or who are waiting for adjudication of their status, because they’re not completely yet undocumented. But we are seeing this increased movement into, sort of, moving these populations to the population most at risk. And so there is that right now.

[00:27:34]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: And I will just note everyone should read Cecilia’s papers because she is one of the preeminent researchers on immigrants with temporary statuses, and has done such incredible groundbreaking work on describing those very vulnerabilities that they have. But I think one thing I want to note as a reminder, anybody who lacks citizenship is deportable. This includes Green Card holders. And I think this is something that gets missed in thinking about how policies work. And so that means that there’s really quite a large group of people that could be subject to deportation given different circumstances.

The other thing I want to highlight is in my research, we very regularly try to look at differences in outcomes based on legal status, and I am continuously surprised at seeing very similar outcomes between people who have green cards and people who are undocumented. So some of the survey data I mentioned earlier, it comes from a study that I led with colleagues at UCLA, the research on immigrant health and state policy study. We looked at all these different kind of enforcement experiences people had, and we anticipated seeing differences that people who were documented would maybe do better than people who were undocumented. But what it came down to is if you have had contact with these systems that are essentially designed to surveil, police, potentially arrest, and deport a person, if you’ve had contact with these systems, it’s not good for your health. So while there’s certain groups who are most at risk of potential deportation, the health impacts really actually extend beyond those groups.

[00:29:16]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Right? That spillover effect that extends even to US citizens who live in mixed status families. They cannot be deported, but when their parents, their siblings, their spouses are deported, they are affected as well. So it is not just the undocumented population, its everyone else who is either lawful permanent- lawful permanent residents has lost the permanent in the name has started losing it since 1996. So for 30 years, that permanence has been eroding to the point where people are deportable, at risk of deportation. But the effect goes also to US born citizens who live in families who work with immigrants on any statuses. So, I want to emphasize, as Maria-Elena just mentioned, the spillover, the broad reverberations of the enforcement system we see today.

[00:30:25]

ELENA RENKEN: That’s very useful to know just how deep that runs, the contact with enforcement systems. In the same vein here, we have a question from The LA Local. “How do we get beyond the anecdotal when reporting on spillover effects? School enrollment numbers are real time, but overall impact on local economies can take a while to show up and same for the long term health declines. What are the data points we should be looking at, especially when federal data are not reliable in some areas?” To either of you.

[00:30:56]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Well, so there is actually a lot of data on- there’s a lot of papers on the spillover effects. And again, I think this is partly the challenge of us as academics getting out the information to a wider public. One of the challenges is that things are happening in real time and people do want data in real time. What I would argue is that the dynamics of what we are seeing today are not entirely different from previous dynamics. And so previously published studies that show these spillover effects are still incredibly informative.

And so, I think it’s a little bit- I think it’s the challenge both of us as academics and all of you as journalists have to make that case that a study that was done. So, for example, one of the studies that I mentioned in the opening, we surprisingly really, we found that white U.S.-born citizens had worse self-rated health in states where there was a lot of exclusionary policy. That finding was really, really surprising to me. It was analysis done during the first Trump administration, but using data actually from 2014.

This pattern has existed now for some time. And so I encourage journalists and I’m happy in this Q&A to point to some of those studies to look to some of that existing evidence. Because while what we’re seeing right now is historic and unprecedented, a lot of the underlying dynamics have been in existence for some time. And so some of that existing data, I think, is still very, very important.

[00:32:33]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes, I want to add to that that what we’re seeing today, as Maria-Elena just said, is unprecedented, but there have been versions of it with research on it. For instance, there has been research on the effects of SB 1070 in Arizona on different aspects of health on prenatal care of U.S. citizen Latinas who were affected, just by the news and the discussions about SB 1070. So there is precedent on how we can respond, what we can say about what’s going on right now. Yes, it is expanded and amplified to unseen levels. But knowing what we know from previous research, we can say something about where this- We can answer questions about what these effects may be today.

[00:33:49]

ELENA RENKEN: That’s good to remember that even citing slightly older studies can give you a really good idea about what you can expect and how you might be able to help even in your current news stories. And a question here from Inside Climate News. “I’m curious if you’re seeing any intersections between climate displacement or migration and fears about immigration enforcement, or if any of the health hazards you’ve mentioned are exacerbated by environmental or climate related issues?”

[00:34:23]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: I can start with that. There is very good, very good research coming out just now recently from social science research and some collaborations between social science and the science side of climate studies. On one important issue about this is that when we ask immigrants the reasons why they migrated, very often they will say, they will mention the more immediate cause, the more immediate reason. They lost plots of land, they lost their jobs, they lost- their agriculture is not producing as much. And so we attribute those to economic aspects. But behind those, there are droughts, there are hurricanes. And so it’s sometimes difficult to get at those climate related contexts that drive migration. But there is now research coming out from social science on trying to get at this. And so it’s there. It’s a context, it’s a background, and we’re just trying to get more of that out.

[00:35:49]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: I can talk a little bit about what’s known in terms of responding to climate related emergencies. So again, going back to that federal context, under federal law, undocumented immigrants, for example, are not eligible for a lot of forms of disaster relief that, for example, might be provided by FEMA. This is not my area, but there’s been some really important research coming out showing that when there are hurricanes, wildfires, that the systems for providing support are very difficult for immigrant groups to access. And so there’s been some interesting research looking at the intersections of- these same barriers that we’re talking about with access to healthcare come up when people need emergency shelter, access to cooling centers, and then after the fact, after disasters, being able to actually get financial or housing resources. And so we’re, sort of, seeing the same exclusions that exist in other systems, whether it’s education or healthcare, essentially be perpetuated within the system of a disaster response to climate emergencies.

[00:37:09]

ELENA RENKEN: Then a question here from Epicenter New York City. What do we know about the effects of this kind of vigilance state on kids’ health over time?

[00:37:21]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: I mean, there’s incredible- this is not my main area of research, but there’s been some of the, I think, really strongest evidence in terms of the harms of active immigration enforcement, or the threats of immigration enforcement have been documented in children. I actually want to start, and actually just reinforce this evidence that there’s actually health harms to birth outcomes. So Cecilia referenced some of the research that was done after Arizona enacted a very exclusionary law. This has been shown in other states as well that after the passage of a very exclusionary law, you see a higher risk for low birth weight among Latina women, U.S. citizen Latina women, as much as among noncitizens. But then among children, there’s been extensive evidence showing poor developmental health outcomes, obviously school absenteeism and then its impact on educational development.

But what’s I think critical to this research is that it has been shown to affect not just children who themselves are undocumented, whose parents are undocumented, but who are going to schools or in communities where these actions are taking place. And so it’s a major concern for the well-being of children when they’re in these climates, as the reporter mentioned, of heightened vigilance.

[00:38:51]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: I would like to add that this is also not my area of research, but I just published a summary of research in this area for the W.T. Grant Foundation. It was actually just published a couple of hours ago on the W.T. Grant Foundation website. They focus on youth and children. And so I summarized all this research on the effects of enforcement, but also on the administration side of the immigration system on different aspects of children’s development, access to- cuts to school lunches, all of that has not just immediate but long term effects. And that is something that we need to consider also, the long term effects on US born children to immigrant parents, what that is going to look to mean 10, 15 years down the road. And so I just wanted to mention that this is a very, an immediate question that a lot of educators and people who work with youth have. And so I tried to summarize this report, this evidence in this report.

[00:40:18]

ELENA RENKEN: Great. Thank you. And I have a specific question here from WFYI Public Media. In Indiana, there’s a bill lawmakers are considering that would require hospitals when seeing someone on Medicaid to ask for identification and report what form was used, whether that’s a driver’s license, a passport, or something else. What concerns does that raise for hospitals serving their communities? Are either of you able to weigh in there?

[00:40:49]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Should I go? So there has been some research looking specifically at issues around identification and driver’s licenses, and there’s a general body of research that has evidence that when immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants, are able to have ID, you see better outcomes. Actually, a study that came out just a couple of years ago actually showed that states that offered driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, you see better birth outcomes. So what this points at is how much the ability to have a lawful administrative identity is critical to being able to get care that you need. So on the flip side, requiring that people demonstrate, have some sort of identification, essentially functions as a form of a barrier. It’s an intentional barrier to make it difficult for people to access care. So I think some areas to be kind of looking at in terms of this potential bill in Indiana is, first of all, how it will essentially make it very difficult for any undocumented person to access care, regardless of whether or not they’re using Medicaid.

There’s clear evidence that when these restrictions are in place, even immigrants who are uninsured, not eligible and not even using these programs, are less likely to just access services in general. So I think it’s not just about controlling who’s using Medicaid, but potentially creating barriers to others who are seeking care through other insurance or without using insurance. The other piece of this is, some of the research I’ve done has been asking service providers their own experiences of how they have to implement policies. And these types of additional policies are really onerous on healthcare systems. We have already a very stretched thin healthcare system, and in communities that serve a lot of immigrant individuals, a law like this is likely to create an additional administrative burden for health systems.

Now, in addition to providing care, they are going to have to think about how do we strategically communicate to our clients so that they continue seeking care? How do we change policies at the point of enrollment or registering. These policies are incredibly burdensome to healthcare systems and distract them from providing good care and instead put all of their energies into just trying to figure out how to navigate this additional barrier that’s been put in place.

[00:43:41]

ELENA RENKEN: And a question here for American Community Media, it’s directed at you, Cecilia. I imagine fewer undocumented people are buying homes right now. Are there also relevant impacts to the real estate market? Anything you can share there?

[00:43:58]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: I am not- I don’t have data on impacts directly on the real estate market. However, the immense impact on construction and maintenance will have effects on the real estate market, I believe. So that’s something to look at. But I don’t have direct connections with real estate, but through construction and maintenance, we can see that there will be- that this sector is going to be affected down the road or today.

[00:44:37]

ELENA RENKEN: Very good to know. Thank you. A question here from La Raza de Chicago. Given the job losses many Latino immigrants face due to immigration enforcement, how do the resulting mental health impacts affect their economic opportunities and ability to achieve upward mobility?

[00:45:00]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: I mean, I’ll talk to the mental health side of things. Cecilia, maybe do you want to talk first about just job loss in general?

[00:45:07]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes, job loss is, of course, a critical issue again for undocumented immigrants, but also for their mixed-status families, and families back home too, because they don’t only contribute economically to their families here, supporting their children here, but also parents and children and families back home. So the effects reverberate across borders as well. And that is job losses, but also immigrants then try to find other ways to earn an income by doing even more informal things. And even more precarious employment, of course, earning less. But there is that effect that they’re not going to just sit at home doing nothing. What they’re doing is engaging in even more precarious, even less economically visible work that can allow them to survive and also don’t forget their families back home.

[00:46:28]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: And looking at the health implications of that, because there absolutely are. In one study that my team and I did using data from the study that I mentioned, the research on immigrant state policy and health study. We actually were able to look at labor insecurity and labor precarity and its impact on health. And we saw that when immigrants are concerned about losing their work authorization, when they’re concerned about or actually experienced a wage theft, that they report worse health. And so there’s absolutely a longer-term mental health and physical health impact from these forms of precarity, essentially, it’s essentially creating instability that makes it difficult for people to be healthy and to thrive.

[00:47:23]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you. A lot of aspects to that kind of story. A question here from a freelancer based in Maine. Can you give an example of immigrants’ unequal lack of access to disaster response? And where can we find research on this topic?

[00:47:41]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: I don’t have any- I’ve not done research directly on it. There’s a researcher whose name, at UC Irvine, whose name I’m forgetting right now, who has studied this.

[00:47:52]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Could it be Michael Mendez or maybe—

[00:47:56]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Yes. Yes, it’s Michael. Michael Mendez at UC Irvine has specifically studied that in the context of wildfires here in California. And so I think one example of that that I think came from- this is not my research, this is somebody else’s research, but I think it’s really important research, is from Dr Mendes’ work. They talked about how, during fires that happened in Central California several years ago, there were shelters set up, but the shelters were managed and run by the county sheriff. And so you have a situation where access to services is facilitated by a law enforcement agency. And for many undocumented immigrants, that is not a safe place to seek services. And in about 1,400 counties across the United States, the local county sheriff has a 287(g) agreement, meaning that they have an agreement with federal immigration authorities that they collaborate on immigration enforcement.

In those counties, if the local shelter for flood or hurricane or fire is being managed and run by the sheriff’s department, which is a very common thing, law enforcement helps out in disaster relief. If that’s being run by the local sheriff’s department, that is not a safe space for undocumented immigrants.

[00:49:30]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Or for immigrants, or for people who live with undocumented immigrants in their homes.

[00:49:34]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Right. Exactly. A mixed-status family can’t go. Right.

[00:49:37]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Exactly.

[00:49:40]

ELENA RENKEN: Those spillover effects again. Thank you. And a question from a freelancer based in California. How have sanctuary policies in cities like San Francisco held up against pressure from the federal government? Is there any context either of you could give there?

[00:49:57]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Do you want to go, or—

[00:49:58]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: I don’t have good evidence on that. It’s in flux. It moves. The lawsuits involved, I haven’t really kept track on where different sanctuary cities across the country are in this at this moment.

[00:50:29]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: I think one thing I can say, I’ll speak just very briefly to California, and I know this is a national call, so I will try not to- in California, the sanctuary policy is actually at the state level. It’s a policy called SB 54 that limits all local agencies from using county resources to support, to help out federal enforcement. And what I would say is from the different policy groups that I’m involved with and collaborate with and share data with, that is a policy that is holding up. I’ve not been tracking different jurisdictions either. One thing that data point that has been released, though, is that since 2025, the number of 287(g) agreements, which are the opposite of sanctuary policies, these are the policies where there’s actually a commitment and an MOU that the local law enforcement will work with federal immigration agents. We are at a historic high in terms of, I think currently, it’s about 1,400 counties have an MOU of some sort through the 287(g) program.

And so I think we’re seeing, well, I don’t necessarily think that we’re seeing an immediate dismantling of existing sanctuary policies. We are seeing an expansion of counties, localities engaging in- going into formal agreements to help with immigration enforcement.

[00:52:09]

ELENA RENKEN: A couple of questions here about healthcare systems. Is there anything you can share about the privacy of patient health data for non-citizens, or about how hospitals are handling ICE presents around their facilities?

[00:52:25]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: This is a major issue, and one that I don’t have up-to-date data on. This is an example, I think, where we are in really unprecedented times. The certainty that Medicaid enrollment data is not being shared with the federal government is no longer there. And there was previously, it was not a strict law, but an agreement or policy within the Department of Homeland Security that they would stay away from- the Immigration Enforcement Agents would stay away from hospitals, schools, churches. That was rescinded, and so I think this is a major issue and one that I really look forward to journalists actively pursuing, and I will read your work.

[00:53:13]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: I was going to highlight attention to 287(g) agreements that almost nobody is paying attention to those, but that is still the law. And it’s being used. And so pay attention to the 287(g) agreements across the country.

[00:53:42]

ELENA RENKEN: Absolutely. Thank you. One more question from Epicenter New York City. Retailers like supermarkets and department stores are increasingly using biometric screening at their stores. Do we know whether, or how this compounds chilling effects or plays a role in retail access for immigrants? Is there any context around that?

[00:54:08]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: In what way? I have not heard biometrical screenings at retail stores. When people pay? Obviously, I don’t have any data on that. I have no idea that this is happening at supermarkets. Perhaps maybe when people pay with phones, maybe. But this is the first time I hear of specific that connection.

[00:54:40]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Yes, I have not seen that. I know that there is concern around screening of cellphones and also biometrics at the point of entry, like in airports, and there are some social scientists who are following that. That’s not my area at all. So there is some work looking at how there’s been now, for example, like, cell phones can be checked. Non-citizen visa holders are subject to more scrutiny at the point of entry when they’re coming in through airports or ports of entry on foot. So I would look to that research. That would be my recommendation because that is the frontier of these other than sort of privatized forms of screening that could be happening.

But I think in terms of thinking about that as a chilling effect, I mean, that is essentially the definition of the sort of thing that creates a chilling effect that when there is an intentional effort to monitor people, and you have people in the community who are, you know, potentially at risk from federal enforcement or, subject to other types of federal or state laws, those types of systems inherently are probably going to create discomfort, if not fear and outright avoidance for some people.

[00:56:08]

ELENA RENKEN: That’s helpful. Thank you. Now, we have one final question in English, which will give our experts a chance to offer some brief takeaway messages here. First, I want to quickly flag for reporters on the line that you’ll receive a quick email survey when you sign off from this briefing, and if you have even 30 seconds to give us any feedback you have, it really helps us plan our services so that they’re useful to you. Now, for our final questions, in about 30 seconds, what’s one takeaway message for reporters covering immigration enforcement?

[00:56:41]

DR. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: In 30 seconds, the time lag between us producing research and the immediacy of an event happening, there is- we don’t- it takes time for us to do research, but research from previous similar situations can be used to inform current events. And second to contextualize, give a little bit more complexity to certain reporting that may misrepresent immigrants in the end. Context helps a lot.

[00:57:24]

DR. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Yes, I want to emphasize that, that context helps a lot. There’s so much attention right now on what ICE is doing, but federal policies preventing so many millions of people from seeking health care are very harmful, as well. I think the second takeaway would simply be that, from a public health perspective, existing research shows that there is no healthy way to do immigration enforcement. And so I encourage everyone to look at the health impacts, but also really scrutinize the system itself in your reporting, because that system consistently across different studies, at different periods in the nation’s history, we see evidence of poor health outcomes when there is active targeting of immigrants and efforts to deport them.

[00:58:13]

ELENA RENKEN: Thank you both so much for those insights into those direct and indirect effects. With that, I’ll hand things over to you, Christian.

[0:58:22]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Tenemos varias preguntas en español, creo que casi todas son de la estación Telemundo Las Vegas, así que gracias a la reportera que está en la llamada y siéntanse libre a responder cada uno como quieran de esta pregunta. Y si no es relevante, pues podemos pasar a la próxima. A la primera es de qué manera la situación migratoria afecta la salud mental de la comunidad, en especial los hispanos, y qué síntomas están observando?

[0:59:08]

DRA. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Pues no yo puedo comenzar, pero primero quiero señalar dar énfasis aquí a como hay dos maneras en que las políticas migratorias pueden afectar a las comunidades. Primero, hay evidencia de que solo vivir en un condado o un estado donde hay políticas anti inmigrantes, que eso tiene un efecto en la salud mental y eso es porque uno está viviendo en un ambiente donde hay inseguridad posible como pues posiblemente el policía les puede como esto no sé cómo se dice facial profile si me pueden ayudar un poquito con eso. Entonces uno no tiene ni tener contacto con el sistema de control migratorio para tener esos efectos en la salud mental. Ha habido varios estudios mostrando que a través de diferentes estados en los Estados Unidos viviendo un en un estado que tiene más políticas anti inmigratorias, anti inmigrantes, tiene ese impacto en la salud mental. Al otro lado, lo que por ejemplo, estamos viviendo ahorita más en la televisión de lo que está viviendo la gente en Minneapolis. La gente también puede tener contacto directo con sistemas de migración. Entonces, eso es ver a un agente de ICE en su comunidad, por ejemplo, a conocer a alguien que ha sido arrestado, detenido, deportado. También tener contacto con la policía. Esas experiencias más directas también tienen un impacto en la salud mental. Por ejemplo, uno de los estudios que yo hice con mis colegas, les preguntamos a inmigrantes de Latinoamérica y también de Asia sobre esas experiencias y lo que encontramos es que cada experiencia más le ponía a la gente más a riesgo de tener un tener como depresión o ansiedad. La última parte en cuanto a diferentes como síntomas. Ahorita no sabemos exactamente lo que lo que va a pasar con la gente, por ejemplo, que está viviendo en Minneapolis, pero sabemos que síntomas como depresión y ansiedad son como la lo más común.

[1:01:44]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Gracias. Otra pregunta. Sabemos que estas políticas no solo afectan a personas indocumentadas, sino también a sus familias y vecinos. ¿Cómo podemos manejar este tema en esa comunidad?

[1:02:00]

DRA. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Sí, este es un aspecto muy importante de las políticas migratorias en este momento y de la presencia de ICE, por ejemplo en las comodidades. En mucha investigación que se ha hecho, se ha visto que los efectos no solamente se enfocan en las personas indocumentadas, sino que van mucho más alla, y no solamente en familias inmigrantes donde hay personas que en diferentes estatus legales, sino que también pasa el efecto a personas nacidas en Estados Unidos, no nacionalizadas, nacidas en Estados Unidos. Entonces, perdón, creo que eso no ha recibido la atención que se necesita en los medios. Se enfoca mucho—los medios se enfocan mucho en la población inmigrante muy homogeneizada, pero hay que hacer mucho énfasis en los efectos que reverberan a través de varios estatus legales, varios estatus de nacionalidad, varios y varios grupos también. Porque hay tanto énfasis en la comunidad latina. Claro, porque son los que la población latina es la que está en la mira, pero hay muchas otras comunidades asiáticas, vietnamitas, filipinas, muchas otras comunidades que antes no se habían visto afectadas, que ahora están siendo afectadas, y eso también necesita mucha atención. Muchas otras nacionalidades están siendo afectadas. Y entonces yo creo que eso es muy importante también notarlo, porque hay mucho—casi toda la atención periodísticas se enfoca en la idea de que solo son inmigrantes indocumentados y que solo son latinos. Y esto es—yo creo que se necesita abrir este lente más.

[1:04:14]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: En tiempos recientes hemos visto casos que involucran menores de edad. ¿Qué consecuencias puede tener eso en las nuevas generaciones?

[1:04:28]

DRA. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: De nuevo es algo muy crítico de ver. Porque los efectos que vemos ahora, por ejemplo, efectos de que empiezan incluso antes de nacer y que reverberan por toda la vida. Por ejemplo, durante SB 1070 en Arizona, que latinas nacidas en Estados Unidos tenían miedo de ir a cuidado prenatal, y SB 1070 no fue no la ley no fue totalmente pasada, sino que incluso solo oír las discusiones todos los días en todos los medios creó ese miedo y hay estudios que mostraron que tuvo un efecto en peso de vez al nacer y en y eso reverbera porque va teniendo efecto también el desarrollo psicológico, en lo que los niños hacen en las escuelas, el nivel de rendimiento escolar. Entonces eso se acumula durante la vida de los jóvenes, de los niños y en y va trayendo más y más repercusiones a través de la vida. Entonces creo que es algo que hay que ponerle mucha atención también.

[1:06:05]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Otra pregunta para usted, Dra. Menjívar. ¿A qué sectores económicos se han visto más afectados por la pérdida de empleo y dónde?

[1:06:15]

DRA. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: ¿Los sectores más afectados? Creo yo, bueno, en California definitivamente construcción y agricultura, pero también servicios. Y no hay que olvidar también el sector de salud, porque el sector de salud es básicamente sostenido por inmigrantes a todos los niveles. Desde las personas que limpian hospitales y clínicas hasta médicos especializados en casi todo el sector, hay inmigrantes y hay personas que están perdiendo sus empleos. Pero creo que los sectores económicos que más se muestra esta pérdida de empleos es en construcción y agricultura, que son esenciales para la economía de California. Pero esto también se ve en otros estados donde hay una alta concentración de inmigrantes: Texas, Florida, Illinois. En los estados donde hay más concentración de inmigrantes, hay mucho más efecto de la pérdida de empleos que afecta a varios sectores, servicios y otros sectores que, dependiendo de cada estado, cada estado tiene sus sectores donde hay más efecto.

[1:07:39]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Gracias. Una pregunta para cualquiera de las dos si tiene algún dato local en Las Vegas. Sé que ustedes están en California, así que tal vez más en general sobre cómo estas políticas o operativos afectan actividades de recreación o turismo en ciudades que dependen de estas actividades.

[1:08:02]

DRA. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Qué interesante esa pregunta.

[1:08:08]

DRA. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yo esperaría que, porque hay un efecto directo en el sector de servicios, hotelería, restaurantes que, esos sectores se van a ver afectados en todo el país donde hay más turismo. No tengo datos, pero dado lo que sabemos, me imagino que, dado lo que sabemos de concentración de inmigrantes en diferentes sectores, creo que turismo se va a ver bastante afectado también.

[1:08:40]

DRA. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Yo creo que sí. Estoy pensando como dónde buscar, por ejemplos de esos datos, porque ahorita mismo, como hemos comentado, los datos van a estar un poquito demorados porque, por ejemplo, datos sobre salud, todo eso tarda un poquito para colectar y que sea distribuido públicamente. Pero algo que sería interesante averiguar es datos del aeropuerto, ¿quién está entrando internacionalmente a visitar? Porque en un estudio que mi equipo hizo el año pasado, viendo también estos impactos económicos, algo que vimos era preocupación por el sector turístico de que iba a haber menos turistas internacionales; incluso creo que hay países que están como dando, como diciendo a sus ciudadanos que tengan cuidado en visitar a los Estados Unidos. Entonces posiblemente, como datos de quién está entrando y saliendo por el aeropuerto, sería un área para buscar esos datos.

[1:09:46]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Sí es buena idea y es importante también recordar que, pues, algunos de estos datos, o sea, del mes de enero, todavía no existen? Verdad? No hemos visto los efectos de lo que está pasando ahorita hoy mismo. Entonces es importante acordar que van a seguir saliendo más datos de este tema. Una pregunta y sé que tenemos solo unos minutitos más, una pregunta desde La Raza Chicago. ¿Cómo pueden los servicios de salud mental ser más accesibles y responder mejor a las realidades culturales de las comunidades inmigrantes?

[01:10:29]

DRA. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Qué muy buena pregunta. Muy interesante. Bueno, primero, por mucho tiempo el lenguaje, el idioma, ha sido una barrera. Entonces, en este país tenemos como una tasa baja de profesionales de salud mental que son bilingües. En cualquier idioma español en todos los otros idiomas que necesitamos para los inmigrantes de este país. Entonces debe de haber un enfoque en reclutar y ayudar desarrollar profesionales de salud mental que hablan diferentes idiomas. Eso creo que es muy importante, pero la otra cosa es que lo que hemos visto en mi en mis investigaciones es que gente está viviendo, ha vivido experiencias traumas. Vamos a decir. Que posiblemente nadie les ha ayudado a procesar. Entonces, por ejemplo, en los datos que compartí antes, mucha gente conoce a alguien que ha sido deportado. Están viviendo un momento en que están viendo agentes de migración en sus comunidades. Entonces yo creo que esos temas tienen que ser parte de los tratamientos de salud mental, incluso con doctores así de que están haciendo servicios preventivos. Crear un espacio seguro donde se puede preguntar o abrir esa conversación de que posiblemente han vivido o están viviendo estas cosas. Lo que he visto trabajando con diferentes organizaciones de salud es porque hay temas de migración a veces se consideran muy sensitivos. Obviamente no deben de preguntar a alguien sobre su estatus migratorio, pero eso no significa que deben de caerse totalmente sobre estos temas. Entonces yo creo que tratar de crear un espacio donde gente puede hablar de lo que han vivido, y esas experiencias pueden ser de hace desde 20 años, pero sabemos con las investigaciones de salud pública que es eso, esas experiencias siguen teniendo impactos en la salud mental. Entonces, crear ese espacio para hablar de esos traumas es importante.

[1:12:49]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Muchas gracias. Una pregunta final desde Tucson Spotlight: ¿qué le aconsejaría a periodistas indocumentados o con visas temporales que reportan en asuntos políticos y de inmigración?

[1:13:08]

DRA. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yo no podría recomendar porque yo soy socióloga y simplemente trabajo en esto. No, no, no puedo dar consejos legales. Eso creo que está fuera de mí, de mi conocimiento.

[1:13:28]

DRA. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Quiero reconocer que estamos viviendo un momento donde una prensa libre, la habilidad de ser académicos no es–está inseguro, no sabemos cómo va a ser el futuro. Y solo quiero agradecer a todos los periodistas que están investigando estos temas y toma valor y gracias por su trabajo. Pero si no quiero dar consejos en este momento porque está difícil la situación.

[1:14:01]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Y para cambiar la pregunta un poquito más, ¿qué le consejería de periodistas documentados que, pues están reportando por primera vez a estas comunidades indocumentadas, ¿qué errores ven ustedes en los reportajes que pues hay que evitar?

[1:14:17]

DRA. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Oh, OK, bueno, yo creo que esto va algo que estábamos comentando en la primera parte en inglés, que hay todo un contexto muy complejo. Hay leyes federales, estatales, locales que por años, décadas, han creado un sistema de exclusión para los inmigrantes y yo sé que escuchar las historias de individuales es algo que a veces atrae más atención. Es más como supuestamente interesante, pero es crítico también ofrecer ese contexto más amplio de cuáles son las leyes, cuáles son las condiciones de las comunidades. El error que yo veo en en algunos reportajes es sin ese contexto la culpa está echada en las personas, en los inmigrantes mismos, y no en el sistema que con que ellos están ligando día tras día.

[1:15:14]

DRA. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Exacto. Exactamente, sin dar ese context, el enfoque en solamente inmigrantes se le echa la culpa a los migrantes, pero es el sistema migratorio, las leyes, la presencia de ICE, por ejemplo, que crean estas condiciones en que la gente está viviendo, y eso necesita muchísima más atención de la que ha recibido.

[1:15:12]

DRA. MARIA-ELENA YOUNG: Sí, y sí puedo agregar, porque como profesores de salud pública, muchas veces he tenido periodistas que me preguntan por qué los inmigrantes no van a recibir cuidado medico. ¿Y la pregunta debe decir cuáles son las condiciones que crean barreras para que vayan?

[1:16:08]

CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA: Sí, bueno, muchas gracias a ustedes, Dras. Young y Menjívar. Ese es todo el tiempo que tenemos para hoy. Un recuerdo que nuestra llamada hoy estaría disponible en nuestro website y que recibirán una encuesta para compartir cualquier comentario que tengan sobre nuestra primera llamada en español. Así que muchas gracias por ser parte de esto y nos vemos en la próxima llamada. Muchas gracias.

[1:16:34]

DRA. CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Muchas gracias a ustedes también. Gracias.