Full Citation
Title: Disability and Death in Divergent Deportation Contexts: Revisiting the Hispanic Mortality Paradox
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2018
ISBN:
ISSN:
DOI:
NSFID:
PMCID:
PMID:
Abstract: The Hispanic Mortality Paradox (HMP) refers to an advantage in life expectancy among Hispanic immigrants (relative to U.S.-born groups) despite lower socioeconomic attainment. The HMP has been well-documented (Riosmena et al. 2015; Riosmena, Wong, and Palloni 2013b): Hispanic immigrants experience a survival advantage-e.g., three-year advantage over U.S.-born whites (Goldman 2016)-compared to U.S.-born counterparts. However, today's institutional context differs sharply from earlier eras when evidence of the paradox first emerged. Thirty years after the 1980s overhaul of immigration law, Hispanic immigrants-including two-thirds of unauthorized immigrants-are now a long-term, settled population (Taylor et al. 2011). Among Hispanic noncitizens, the possibility of deportation has grown rapidly, while Hispanics have also become concentrated in dangerous jobs (Hall and Greenman 2015) with limited health access (Perreira and Pedroza 2019). In this paper, we explore the paradox among Hispanic immigrants surveyed between 2000 and 2016 to determine whether and where the previously observed advantages to longevity may be losing ground. We pay particular attention to trends in recent years because of the sudden rise in deportations since the early 2000s. First, we use Census data to examine rates of disability among Hispanic immigrants. Then, we present estimated death counts as a function of disability and health indicators. Finally, we describe disability rates and death counts across divergent policy contexts. At one end of the spectrum are places where cooperation with immigration authorities was common, exposing Hispanic immigrants to heightened exclusion. By contrast, other places limited the reach of immigration enforcement. By examining disability and preventable death in divergent contexts, we call attention to the indirect determinants of health in an era of mass deportations. Disability and health data: We analyze American Community Survey (ACS) data on self-reported disability (Ruggles et al. 2018). The data provide prevalence estimates for six measures of disability (i.e., cognitive, ambulatory, independent living, self-care, vision, or hearing difficulty). Among metro residents in 2016, 12.5% report at least of one these disabilities, 5.9% report two or more difficulties, and 3.3% report three or more. Respondents also report health insurance status. By 2016, 91.4% of metro residents report having any health insurance, up from 85.5% in 2012. Among those with insurance coverage in 2016, 57.7% only had private insurance, 21.6% only had public insurance, and 12.0% had both. Deportation data: This paper measures cumulative deportation rates [Figure 1] to capture the variation across metro areas in immigration enforcement under the Secure Communities
Url: https://paulchung.org/resources/pedroza_paa2019_abstract.pdf
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Pedroza, Juan M; Chung, Pil H
Publisher: University of California, Santa Cruz
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity
Countries: