Anti‐immigration policies of the trump administration: A review of Latinx mental health and resilience in the face of structural violence

Abstract

Poor mental health outcomes are a growing concern among Latinx children and adults in the U.S. While existing research has documented risk factors to these mental health disparities, such as barriers to healthcare access and fear of deportation, less is known about the impacts of Former President Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and federal efforts to curb migration on Latinx mental health.Thus, the purpose of this review was two-fold: (1) to review the empirical literature for any quantitative or qualitative findings discussing the relationship between federal immigration policies passed under the Trump administration and mental health outcomes of the Latinx community and(2) to understand the range of resilience factors that may have facilitated Latinx youth and adults to overcome these sociopolitical changes. Utilizing a modified version of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we conducted a narrative review of 21 empirical articles. The review characterizes literature across the fields of psychology, counseling, social justice,This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Immigrant Perspectives of Social Connection in a Nontraditional Migration Area

“…Participants described infrastructure that promoted social acceptance, like signs and access to social and healthcare services in their native language, as well as societal factors that are exclusionary, like racism and discrimination in state and federal policies and anti-immigration sentiment in our country. Participant responses are consistent with research evidence documenting the negative impact of law enforcement policies and federal immigration policies on the mental health of Latino immigrants [ 143 , 144 ]. Notably, societal-level policies and infrastructure are not the only barriers to social acceptance.…”

US Immigration Policy Stressors and Latinx Youth Mental Health

“…After the 2016 presidential election, almost half of the mostly Mexican-origin adolescents in one immigrant community reported worrying about threats such as family separation . Cross-sectional evidence ties anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions to greater mental health symptoms of Latinx adolescents . For youth composing the present study’s sample, experiencing a family member’s detention or deportation during early adolescence was associated with a 2- to 3-fold higher odds of clinically meaningful levels of externalizing symptoms and of suicidal ideation 6 months later, even after adjusting for baseline mental health .…”

“…10 Cross-sectional evidence ties anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions to greater mental health symptoms of Latinx adolescents. [11][12][13][14] For youth composing the present study's sample, experiencing a family member's detention or deportation during early adolescence was associated with a 2to 3-fold higher odds of clinically meaningful levels of externalizing symptoms and of suicidal ideation 6 months later, even after adjusting for baseline mental health. 15 In one of the few studies on this topic approximating causal inference by using a difference-in-differences analysis, Latinx adolescents reported increased sadness for up to at least 4 years after Arizona adopted one of the toughest anti-immigrant laws in the nation.…”

Voices of fear and uncertainty: Exploring the employment struggles of female DACA recipients

“…The persistent threat to DACA and the extensive media coverage surrounding its uncertain future left dreamers feeling marginalized, subjected to discrimination, and uncertain about their ability to remain in the United States (Garcini et al., 2017). The sociopolitical climate during the Trump administration further exacerbated hostility toward immigrant communities, resulting in profound impacts on the mental well‐being of DACA recipients (Rabin, 2022). In contrast, the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic, although significant, were experienced by a broader population and did not carry the same targeted, personal threat to their livelihoods as the immigration policies pursued by the Trump administration (The Center for Migration Studies, 2021).…”