The 2020 Pandemic Outbreak Impact on the Wellbeing of Short-Term Migrants in Gainesville, Florida: Mixed Method Research Study

Abstract

A major characteristic of U.S. college towns is the continuous influx of migrants who come to study and work under a visa. Unfortunately, these groups are underrepresented in pandemic and disaster studies. Migrants can be more vulnerable in the face of pandemics due to the limited access to resources, cultural differences, and social discrimination. The main goal of our study is to help close this research gap by answering the following research questions: How did the COVID-19 outbreak impact the wellbeing of migrants in Gainesville, Florida? And how did the changes in visa regulations and deportation threats during the COVID-19 outbreak affect the anxiety and depression levels among migrants in Gainesville, Florida? The data was collected through a mixed-methods approach. This involved semi-structured interviews with eleven migrants from Gainesville. Following the interviews, we conducted a cross-sectional survey based on previously validated depression and anxiety questionnaire tools (PHQ-9 and GAD-7), and it was completed by 165 migrants from Gainesville. Three main themes resulted from the qualitative analysis of the interviews; 1) Emotional struggles and socioeconomic challenges, 2) Discrimination and lack of government and institutional support, and 3) Communication challenges. Simultaneously, due to the visa changes, the survey sample had mild to moderate depression and anxiety levels on average based on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scales. Our findings offer practical policy insights which can help in developing effective and equitable pandemic and disaster risk-reduction strategies.