How immigration policies can harm health: Study sheds light on ‘public charge’ rule

Immigration policies like the Trump-era expansion of the “public charge” rule that made it harder for immigrants on public assistance to obtain legal residency can have a chilling effect on the health and well-being of immigrant communities in California, according to astudy released today by theUCLA Center for Health Policy Research.The study, based on data from  the center ’s 2019 California Health Interview Survey, shows  that 1 in 4 low-income immigrant adults in the state  have  avoided accessing public assistance like health, food or housing programs at some point for fear of jeopardizing their own or a family member’s immigration status. More than half of them indicated they had shunned these programs in the time between the Trump administration’s proposed rule chan ges in 2018 and their implementation in 2020.The new public charge legislation penalized immigrants who rely on Medicaid, food stamps or housing vouchers — even for short periods — by decreasing their chances of getting a “green card,” or lawful permanent residency.Immigrants ’ avoidance of these public programs was linked to worse access to health care and higher food insecurity, the researchers say. They found that among California immigrants who had reported avoiding programs over the past year, 37% were uninsured and 54% were food insecure, compared with 16% and 36 % of immigrants who didn’t avoid them.  In addition, those who had avoided public programs in the past year were...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news