Restrictive Immigration Policies Research Articles

Not everyone suffers equally: The effect of electoral overlap on mainstream party responses to radical right parties

The rise of radical right parties in Europe has led to a number of strategic responses from mainstream parties (MSPs). However, not all MSPs are equally affected by the rise of challenger parties. This idea has been neglected in much of the quantitative work in the field. This paper extends this argument and investigates electoral overlap in a cross-country study of multiparty systems. Using Propensity to Vote (PTV) data to measure the electoral overlap between MSPs and radical right parties in eight Western European countries, I estimate the effect of right-wing threat on the positions of MSPs on immigration. A higher threat of losing voters to the radical right is associated with a move towards more restrictive immigration policies; on the other hand, a party’s chance to win voters back from the radical right has no significant impact on its positions.

Supporting Migrant Children in Pediatric Settings: Lessons Learned from the US Migrant Humanitarian Crisis Response.

This article examines the influx of migrants to the United States and highlights current global and local immigration trends. The authors focus on migrant children-specifically the effect of migration trauma in the context of humanitarian responses to the intentional movement of migrants to Democrat-led cities across the US to humanize the compounded effects of migration trauma, restrictive immigration policies, and the current resettlement landscape for migrants. The authors are directly involved with supporting migrant arrivals who have relocated to Chicago from the southern border, and apply field knowledge to articulate current barriers to accessing health care and best practices within pediatric settings supporting migrant arrivals. Clinical and practice implications for medical providers in pediatric settings are included. The article also highlights the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in providing health care to asylum-seeking migrants and implications for transdisciplinary workforce development in this area. [Pediatr Ann. 2024;53(5):e171-e177.].

Anxious Activists? Examining Immigration Policy Threat, Political Engagement, and Anxiety among College Students with Different Self/Parental Immigration Statuses.

Restrictive immigration policies harm the mental health of undocumented immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members. As a sociopolitical stressor, threat to family due to immigration policy can heighten anxiety, yet it is unclear whether political engagement helps immigrant-origin students to cope. We used a cross-sectional survey of college students from immigrant families (N = 2,511) to investigate whether anxiety symptomatology was associated with perceived threat to family and if political engagement moderated this relationship. We stratified analyses by self/parental immigration statuses-undocumented students, U.S. citizens with undocumented parents, and U.S. citizens with lawfully present parents-to examine family members' legal vulnerability. Family threat was significantly associated with anxiety; higher levels of political engagement reduced the strength of this relationship. However, this moderation effect was significant only for U.S. citizens with lawfully present parents. These findings emphasize the importance of the family immigration context in shaping individuals' mental health outcomes.

The legacy of immigration policies and employment exclusion: Assessing the relationship between employment exclusions and immigrant health

Restrictive federal and state immigration policies create conditions of employment exclusion that may negatively influence the health of immigrants. In particular, these policy effects are reflected in labor market and workplace experiences that determine the types of work and employment opportunities that immigrants are able to access and pursue. This study examines the relationship between both cumulative and individual measures of employment exclusion and self-rated health and psychological distress among Asian and Latino immigrants in California, and whether this relationship is modified by legal status. We used data from the Research on Immigrant Health and State Policy (RIGHTS) study (n = 2010). We used both multivariable logistic regression and linear regression models for our analyses. For cumulative models, labor market exclusion was associated with poor health (OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.46). Workplace exclusion was also associated with poor self-rated health (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.82) and increased psychological distress (β = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.31, 1.07). For individual measures of employment exclusion, settling for a job – a labor market exclusion – and working in a dangerous job and experiencing wage theft – workplace exclusions – were associated with poor health and increased psychological distress. There was no evidence that the association between employment exclusions and health varied by legal status. These findings demonstrate that the combined effect of employment exclusions is detrimental to immigrant health. To improve population health, public health researchers should continue to interrogate the policy conditions at the federal, state, and local level that exclude immigrants from employment opportunities and workplace protections.

Loss of Peers and Individual Worker Performance: Evidence From H-1B Visa Denials

We study how restrictive immigration policies that result in the unexpected loss of coworkers affect the performance of skilled migrants employed in organizations. Specifically, we examine the impact of the loss of team members on their coworkers’ performance in response to the unexpectedly increased denials of extensions of H-1B work visas in the United States beginning in 2017. Losing a team member generally has a positive, albeit economically insignificant, effect on the performance of workers left behind. However, we find that individuals who lost peers of the same ethnic background experience a substantial decrease in their performance. To confirm that our results are not plagued by the presence of unobservable team or individual features that might impact visa denial decisions, we build an instrumental variable that exploits the fixed duration of the H-1B visa. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that our result is driven by workers in small teams, teams working on atypical tasks, and ethnically homogeneous teams. These analyses hint at the fact that ethnic ties may boost individual performance through preferential channels of knowledge and information spillovers. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.17319 .

Adopting restriction: how coalition governments respond to radical right parties

Radical right parties (RRPs) have gained representation in parliaments across Europe, but little is known about their impact on government policy. Even though RRPs tend to end up in opposition, they have considerable influence on policy making within coalition governments. One expectation is that coalition governments are tough on immigration to optimise voter support when being exposed to right-wing parties in parliament. Coalition negotiations temporarily reduce accountability and allow cabinets to adjust policy positions without bearing the costs associated with opportunistic behaviour. This argument is tested using novel data on pre-electoral policy positions and post-electoral immigration policies for coalition cabinets in 24 European democracies from 1980 to 2015. The findings reveal that governments shift to more restrictive immigration policies in face of RRPs. This article expands on prior research on the influence of the radical right by demonstrating its direct influence on coalition governments’ joint immigration policy plans.

Immigration and integration policy change in France during Sarkozy’s era

AbstractThis paper sheds light on the factors behind the introduction of restrictive immigration and integration policy in France between 2002 and 2012, which is closely associated with Nicholas Sarkozy and his party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Using the evidence from semi-structured interviews, conducted with The Republicans (UMP) elected representatives, political advisors and civil servants, the paper argues that the introduction of restrictive immigration policies is explained not only through electoral pressure from the radical right Front National, but also by publics’ perceived economic concerns, cultural anxieties around Islam, as well as the effects of the EU integration. The paper also contributes to immigration policy liberalisation scholarship, by highlighting the importance of non-economic benefits migration brings, which take a form of soft power, as a way to increase French influence (rayonnement) in the world, contrary to the previous literature that explains liberalisation from economic advantages of skilled migration.

Perspectives from the pandemic epicenter: Sexual and reproductive health of immigrant women in New York City.

The United States' response to COVID-19 created a policy, economic, and healthcare provision environment that had implications for the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of racialized and minoritized communities. Perspectives from heterogenous immigrant communities in New York City, the pandemic epicenter in the United States (US), provides a glimpse into how restrictive social policy environments shape contraception, abortion, pregnancy preferences, and other aspects of SRH for marginalized immigrant communities. We conducted in-depth interviews in 2020 and 2021 with 44 cisgender immigrant women from different national origins and 19 direct service providers for immigrant communities in New York City to explore how immigrants were forced to adapt their SRH preferences and behaviors to the structural barriers of the COVID-19 pandemic. We coded and analyzed the interviews using a constant comparative approach. Pandemic-related fears and structural barriers to healthcare access shaped shifts in contraceptive use and preferences among our participants. Immigrant women weighed their concerns for health and safety and the potential of facing discrimination as part of their contraceptive preferences. Immigrants also described shifts in their pregnancy preferences as rooted in concerns for their health and safety and economic constraints unique to immigrant communities. Understanding how immigrant women's SRH shifted in response to the structural and policy constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic can reveal how historically marginalized communities will be impacted by an increasingly restrictive reproductive health and immigration policy landscape.

A qualitative exploration of Latinx immigrant young adults’ experiences with anti-immigration policies and the COVID-19 pandemic

Anti-immigration policies have been on the rise over the past four decades. The present study explored how anti-immigration policies and rhetoric impacted the psychological and material experiences of Latinx immigrant young adults across legal statuses. Furthermore, the present study examined the ways the COVID-19 pandemic was experienced by Latinx immigrant young adults. We analyzed semi-structured interviews with 30 immigrant young adults (ages 18–25; M = 20.93; SD = 2.03) from Latin America. Results suggested that restrictive immigration policies and the threat of deportation produced stress and interrupted key developmental milestones among Latinx immigrant young adults. Results also show how the vulnerabilities experienced during young adulthood were further compounded by the pandemic. Findings can inform policy and practice aimed at supporting immigrant young adults during the transition to adulthood within the context of heightened anti-immigration policies and the pandemic.

Social Mobility through Immigrant Resentment: Explaining Latinx Support for Restrictive Immigration Policies and Anti-immigrant Candidates

Abstract Various polls suggest that Donald Trump has enjoyed the support of a sizable minority of the Latinx electorate despite his racially offensive rhetoric and support for some of the most restrictive immigration policies in recent memory. Building on Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory, we contend that some Latinxs harbor negative stereotypes about immigrants, blame them for the status devaluation of the Latinx community, and cognitively distinguish themselves from Latinx immigrants. Rather than viewing anti-immigrant policies, rhetoric, and politicians as a direct status threat, those exhibiting this “Latinx Immigrant Resentment (LIR)” may regard them as a means to enhance the status and interests of “prototypical” Latinxs by signaling their distinction from “atypical” Latinxs. To evaluate this theory, we use the 2020 American National Election Study (ANES) and 2016 Collaborative MultiRacial Post-Election Survey (CMPS) as a proof-of-concept to first confirm that negative immigrant stereotypes and cognitive intragroup distinctions are associated with increased support for Donald Trump and restrictive immigration policies. We then introduce a more refined measure of LIR by fielding online surveys of US Latinxs administered through Lucid in 2020–2021 (N = 1,164) and 2021/22 (N = 1,017). We demonstrate the validity of this measure and its predictive power for attitudes toward Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and restrictive immigration policies after accounting for a range of rival explanations.

Tough Positions, Trustful Voters? How Mainstream Party Position-Taking on Immigration Shapes Political Trust and its Impact on Far-Right Voting

Abstract Mainstream parties have taken increasingly restrictive immigration policy positions across Western Europe. Yet the political consequences of this behaviour for citizens' democratic norms and practices are still not well understood. This article focuses on public political trust. Bridging the literatures on immigration-related trust and spatial theory, the spotlight is put on the consequences of mainstream party position-taking on immigration for the interconnectedness of citizens' immigration policy preferences, political distrust and far-right voting. An analysis of data from the Chapel Hill Expert Survey and European Social Survey across 14 Western European democracies (2006–2018) suggests that tougher immigration positions of centre-right parties in government weaken the link between immigration scepticism and political distrust and, in turn, the relevance of political distrust as a precursor of far-right voting. This has important implications for our understanding of immigration politics and advances the existing literatures on party competition, political trust and far-right voting in several ways.

Health selection into migration from Poland to the Netherlands: a matched case–control analysis

ABSTRACT This study sheds light on health selection into migration from Poland to the Netherlands. Scholars have highlighted health as an important resource to overcome barriers to migration, and suggested that health selection into migration may particularly be expected under specific conditions, e.g. when geographical distances between origin and destination countries are large and when immigration policies in the destination country are restrictive. I assessed whether health selection into migration was also present in a within–European Union migration flow to which such conditions do not apply. I analyzed data from four surveys of Polish migrants in the Netherlands (n = 1,210) and European Social Survey data on Polish natives who stayed in Poland (n = 1,843). I performed conditional logistic regression analyses for matched case–control groups to model health selection into migration. Better health status was associated with a greater propensity to migrate from Poland to the Netherlands. Additional research is needed to determine whether the lower expected returns on migration for people in suboptimal health make them less inclined to migrate than their healthier counterparts, also in the absence of restrictive immigration policies and excessive geographical distances between origin and destination countries.

The Painful and Chilling Effects of Legal Violence: Immigration Enforcement and Racialized Legal Status Inequities in Worker Well-Being

A wave of restrictive immigration policies implemented over the past several decades dramatically increased immigrant detentions and deportations in the United States (U.S.), with important consequences for a host of immigrant outcomes. Still, questions remain as to how temporal and geographic variation in immigration enforcement within and across the U.S. shaped racialized legal status inequities in health and well-being, particularly among those employed in precarious occupations. To fill this gap, we interrogated the links between changes in county-level immigration enforcement and racialized legal status inequalities in musculoskeletal pain and social welfare benefits utilization among U.S. agricultural workers over nearly two decades (2002–2018). We merged data from three sources [(1) restricted-access, geocoded data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) (n = 37,619); (2) county-level immigration enforcement data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC); and (3) population data from the Census and American Community Survey (ACS)] and estimated linear probability models with year, month, and state fixed effects. We show that, in counties with high enforcement rates, workers—especially undocumented workers—were at increased risk of musculoskeletal pain, including pain that was severe. Heightened enforcement was also associated with declines in needs-based benefits utilization, especially among documented and U.S.-citizen non-White workers and undocumented White and non-White workers. Together, these findings highlight how changes in sociopolitical and legal contexts can shift and maintain racialized legal status hierarchies, with especially important consequences for the well-being of vulnerable workers.

Disenchanted With the Immigrant Dream: The Sociological Formation of Ex-Immigrant Subjectivity

Abstract Although many return migrants had planned to go back to their country of origin, other return migrants who had originally planned to pursue the immigrant dream––the idea that one can have a better life by migrating—eventually change their mind and return to their society of origin. Just as the identity of individuals must adjust to the loss of a relationship, job, or membership of a group, many formerly aspiring immigrants give up on immigrating. I analyze data from oral history interviews and social media narratives of 121 Chinese ex-immigrants from 16 different countries. I show how disappointments, the language barrier, cultural alienation, racial-ethnic discrimination, intersectional-gender issues, barriers to upward socioeconomic mobility, and/or restrictive immigration policies interact with each other to constitute ex-immigrant subjectivity. This article highlights why immigration is a far less certain process than many perceive it to be, contributing to the broader sociological literature on how in different and similar ways processes of abandoning important social endeavors, like a romantic partnership, political party, or religious faith, transform subjectivities and social identities in other domains of social life.

A Gender-Aware Analysis on the Feminization of Entertainment Industry in Japan

This manuscript reexamines the institutionalization of the feminization of migration industry in the Philippine-Japan migration stream through a gender-aware approach. It interrogates on the reasons why Filipina migrants made their way out of the Philippines, through regular and illicit channels, to a host country like Japan despite its restrictive immigration policies. The study unpacks on the common notion that along with active state facilitation, Filipino women migrants’ mobility or those who are engaged in “nightwork” is basically mediated through the entertainment industry. This research is a product of long engagements with the respondents and various key-informants of NGOs and club owners from 2010 to 2015. The findings reveal that women migrants are able to exploit the migration industry as their personal network in alleviating their precarious status. The researcher agrees that the institutionalization of the migration through the entertainment industry from the Philippines to Japan perpetuates an exploitative woman-dominated migration stream. However, in most instances, Filipina migrants capably exploit their personal or community network formation which could also be found in the nightwork industry.

Does a tragic event affect different aspects of attitudes toward immigration?

Abstract Dramatic events can evoke feelings of compassion, fear, or threat, and can affect public opinion regarding controversial issues. Such an event was the drowning of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi, a Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish shore, and was photographed, producing an iconic image that was seen worldwide. The image evoked empathy and compassion that neuroscience and psychological research associate with a motivation to help. This article examines the impact of this event on four different aspects of attitudes toward immigration. The timing of the European Social Survey in Portugal allowed us to use this tragic event as a natural experiment. Our results suggest that Kurdi’s drowning had a significant effect on only two sentiments, but no such impact was detected on other attitudes. The results show that the event did not change the respondents’ opinion regarding the possible negative consequences of immigration on the host country’s economy, crime level, or culture, nor did it change their perception of the skills required by immigrants. On the other hand, the empathy induced by the tragic event increased their willingness to have a less restrictive immigration policy and their openness to having close social relationships with immigrants, although these changes were short-lived.

Anti-immigrant backlash: the Democratic Dilemma for immigration policy

Anti-immigrant backlash has emerged in recent years as a considerable threat to democracy. In many countries illiberal and anti-democratic political forces driven in part by anti-immigrant sentiment have damaged or threaten to damage the proper functioning of democratic institutions. Should policymakers try to avert this threat by implementing more restrictive immigration policy? If they do so, they may expose immigrants to unjust exclusion. If they do not, they may risk democratic dysfunction, even democratic failure. I will call this the Democratic Dilemma for immigration policy. In this paper I argue that this is a hard ethical dilemma that does not lend itself to a straightforward resolution. I propose an analytic and evaluative framework for assessing possible policy responses to the Dilemma to aid policymakers’ as well as the public’s ethical judgement.

Ins and Outs: Immigration Policies in Early 20th Century Mexico and the Arrival of Spanish Immigrants and Exiles

Abstract: In the early decades of the 20th century, Mexican immigration laws and government circulars dictated populations believed to be economically, racially, and intellectually favorable. Determined to be a population able to easily assimilate into Mexican society based on their ability to maintain Mexico's mestizo demographic identity, the government gave preferential treatment to Spaniards seeking the opportunity to migrate. The Mexican government sought to protect the nation's mixed-identity through the promulgation of restrictive immigration policies, establishing limitations for populations believed to be too "other" to seamlessly integrate and bring wide-spread benefit to the nation. To understand Mexico's provision of aid to Spanish exiles and refugees unable or unwilling to return to their homeland during and after the Spanish Civil War, this article examines the Ley de Migración, the Ley de General Población, and other immigration laws promulgated between 1926 and 1936 and their efforts to control who was able to enter the country.

Extending Driver's Licenses to Undocumented Immigrants: Comparing Perinatal Outcomes Following This Policy Shift.

Research shows that restrictive immigration policies and practices are associated with poor health, but far less is known about the relationship between inclusive immigration policies and health. Using data from the United States natality files, we estimate associations between state laws granting undocumented immigrants access to driver's licenses and perinatal outcomes among 4,047,067 singleton births to Mexican and Central American immigrant birthing people (2008-2021). Fitting multivariable log binomial and linear models, we find that the implementation of a license law is associated with improvements in low birthweight and mean birthweight. Replicating these analyses among U.S.-born non-Hispanic White birthing people, we find no association between the implementation of a license law and birthweight. These findings support the hypothesis that states' extension of legal rights to immigrants improves the health of the next generation.

Epidemiology of asylum seekers and refugees at the Mexico-US border: a cross-sectional analysis from the migrant settlement camp in Matamoros, Mexico

BackgroundThe number of migrants and asylum seekers at the Mexico-US border has increased to historic levels. Our objective was to determine the medical diagnoses and treatments of migrating people seeking care in humanitarian clinics in Matamoros, Mexico.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of patient encounters by migrating people through a humanitarian clinic in Matamoros, Mexico, from November 22, 2019, to March 18, 2021. The clinics were operated by Global Response Medicine in concert with local non-governmental organizations. Clinical encounters were each coded to the appropriate ICD-10/CPT code and categorized according to organ system. We categorized medications using the WHO List of Essential Medicines and used multivariable logistic regression to determine associations between demographic variables and condition frequency.ResultsWe found a total of 8,156 clinical encounters, which included 9,744 diagnoses encompassing 132 conditions (median age 26.8 years, female sex 58.2%). People originated from 24 countries, with the majority from Central America (n = 5598, 68.6%). The most common conditions were respiratory (n = 1466, 15.0%), musculoskeletal (n = 1081, 11.1%), and skin diseases (n = 473, 4.8%). Children were at higher risk for respiratory disease (aOR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.61–2.10), while older adults had greater risk for joint disorders (aOR = 3.35, 95% CI: 1.73–6.02). Women had decreased risk for injury (aOR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.40–0.63) and higher risk for genitourinary diseases (aOR = 4.99, 95% CI: 3.72–6.85) compared with men. Among 10,405 medications administered, analgesics were the most common (n = 3190, 30.7%) followed by anti-infectives (n = 2175, 21.1%).ConclusionsIn this large study of a migrating population at the Mexico-US border, we found a variety of clinical conditions, with respiratory, musculoskeletal, and skin illnesses the most common in this study period which encompassed a period of restrictive immigration policy and the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.