Aging and undocumented: The sociology of aging meets immigration status

Abstract

Being undocumented is strongly correlated with low wages, employment in high risk occupations, and poor healthcare access. We know surprisingly little about the social lives of older undocumented adults despite the vast literature about youth and young undocumented migrants. Literature about the immigrant health paradox casts doubts on the argument that unequal social conditions translate to poorer self‐reported health and mortality, but few of these studies consider immigration status as the dynamic variable that it is. Reviewing research about older migrants and minorities, I point to the emergence of undocumented older persons as a demographic group that merits attention from researchers and policymakers. This nexus offers important lessons for understanding stratification and inequality. This review offers new research directions that take into account multilevel consequences of growing old undocumented. Rather than arguing that older‐aged undocumented migrants are aging into exclusion, I argue that we need careful empirical research to examine how the continuity of exclusion via policies can magnify inequalities on the basis of immigration status and racialization in older age.

Immigrant Legal Status Disparities in Health Among First- and One-point-five-Generation Latinx Immigrants in California

“…Another important step for research is to incorporate dynamic, retrospective measures of legal status. This study and most others documenting inequality in immigrant health rely on static measures of legal status, but immigrant legal status frequently changes (Flores Morales, 2021). Research on DACA shows that the expansion of legal rights had short-term health benefits for participants and their children (Patler et al, 2019, Patler, Hamilton, et al, 2020.…”

The mental health of migrant people: Western medical systems facing a globalized society

“…Nevertheless, not all those who have been subjected to trauma develop serious illnesses, but stressful living conditions (which affect all international migrants, not just refugees) seem to have a more significant statistical correlation (Bilecen & Vacca, 2021;Chen et al, 2017). A confirmation of this hypothesis can be found in foreign populations over the age of 65 who have resided in their country of arrival for more than 10 years (Flores Morales, 2021) and in studies of processes of re-traumatization that can aggravate psychotic disorders caused by childhood traumas or generic factors (Bas-Sarmiento et al, 2017). Further confirmation comes from a study carried out in Sweden by Linder et al (2020), in which half of the patients diagnosed with a mental disorder belonged to the poorest fifth of the population and had lower schooling rates.…”

The Impact of Structural Inequities on Older Asian Americans During COVID-19

“…Many immigrants, including Asian Americans, arriving in the U.S. are often of older age due to long waiting times for visas and have delayed access to public benefits like Medicare due to ineligibility based on citizenship status. The threats of being labeled as a "public charge" or becoming inadmissible for lawful permanent residence (LPR) or citizenship have hindered lowincome immigrants including LPR to seek for public benefits and COVID-19 related support (36)(37)(38). Despite the recent removal of public charge criteria, fears about losing eligibility for citizenship by using public services persist.…”