Immigration Policies and Social Determinants of Health: Is Immigrants’ Health at Risk?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of immigration legislation on Latino immigrants within the social determinants of health framework to understand the impact of such legislation on the immigrant’s health. While the socio-political climate in California is geared towards more pro-integration immigration policies, findings indicate that immigrants still experiences poor treatment in the form of microaggressions, horizontal discrimination, and institutional discrimination. This poor treatment may be an indication of residual anti-immigrant sentiment that remains in the state as well as a spillover effect from the anti-immigrant legislation being passed in neighboring states or national rhetoric. The findings overlap with four domains of the social determinants of health framework including economic stability, education, health and access to care, and social and community context. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed.