DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

Background: Mexican women in the United States (US) have higher rates of fertility compared to other ethnic groups and women in Mexico. Whether variation in women’s access to family planning services or patterns of contraceptive use contributes to this higher fertility has received little attention. Objective: We explore Mexican women’s contraceptive use, taking into account women’s place in the reproductive life course. Methods: Using nationally representative samples from the US (National Survey of Family Growth) and Mexico (Encuesta National de la Dinámica Demográfica), we compared the parity-specific frequency of contraceptive use and fertility intentions for non-migrant women, foreign-born Mexicans in the US, US-born Mexicans, and whites. Results: Mexican women in the US were less likely to use IUDs and more likely to use hormonal contraception than women in Mexico. Female sterilization was the most common method among higher parity women in both the US and Mexico, however, foreign-born Mexicans were less likely to be sterilized, and the least likely to use any permanent contraceptive method. Although foreign-born Mexicans were slightly less likely to report that they did not want more children, differences in method use remained after controlling for women’s fertility intentionsPopulation Research Cente

Offshoring, Relocation and the Speed of Convergence: Convergence in the Enlarged European Union

Economic convergence of the new member states (NMS) of the EU towards the old EU countries (EU-15), not only in terms of real income, but also in nominal terms, is of paramount importance for the whole of the EU. We build a dynamic CGE model, starting from the Balassa-Samuelson two-sector framework, but modify and enlarge it with forward-looking investment, consumption, and labour mobility behaviour to address several other issues like welfare and sustainability in terms of foreign indebtedness. At the same time we evaluate the impact of convergence on the EU-15 countries also, by endogenising offshoring and the related FDI flows from them to the NMS. Thereby we identify various effects of relocation and globalisation on the EU-15 enlarging the standard set of effects of globalisation and demonstrate the key role of their dynamic nature in the process of convergence. We find that in a general equilibrium setting fears of large adverse effects of a relocation of EU-15 manufacturing to the NMS are not well founded. In contrast, offshoring appears to be a win-win case for both the EU-15 and the NMS in terms of real income. The convergence of the NMS is fairly rapid, but will involve a persistent rapid inflation rate.convergence, relocation, new member states, EU-15

Hypertension among Oral Contraceptive Users in El Paso, Texas

On the U.S.-Mexico border, residents frequently cross into Mexico to obtain medications or medical care. We previously reported relatively high prevalence of hypertension among Latina oral contraceptive users in El Paso, particularly those obtaining pills over the counter (OTC) in Mexico. Here, we examine factors associated with having hypertension among 411 OTC users and 399 clinic users. We also assess hypertension awareness and interest in using blood pressure kiosks. Women age 35 to 44 and who had BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 had higher odds of having hypertension. 59% of hypertensive women had unrecognized hypertension, and 77% of all participants would use a blood pressure kiosk; there were no significant differences between clinic and OTC users. Alternative approaches to increase access to health screenings are needed in this setting, where OTC pill use among women with unrecognized hypertension confers unique health risksPopulation Research Cente

Barriers to Offering Vasectomy at Publicly Funded Family Planning Organizations in Texas

Few publicly funded family planning clinics in the United States offer vasectomy, but little is known about the reasons this method is not more widely available at these sources of care. Between February 2012 and February 2015, three waves of in-depth interviews were conducted with program administrators at 54 family planning organizations in Texas. Participants described their organization’s vasectomy service model and factors that influenced how frequently vasectomy was provided. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a theme-based approach. Service models and barriers to providing vasectomy were compared by organization type (e.g., women’s health center, public health clinic) and receipt of Title X funding. Two thirds of organizations did not offer vasectomy on-site or pay for referrals with family planning funding; nine organizations frequently provided vasectomy. Organizations did not widely offer vasectomy because they could not find providers that would accept the low reimbursement for the procedure or because they lacked funding for men’s reproductive health care. Respondents often did not perceive men’s reproductive health care as a service priority and commented that men, especially Latinos, had limited interest in vasectomy. Although organizations of all types reported barriers, women’s health centers and Title X-funded organizations more frequently offered vasectomy by conducting tailored outreach to men and vasectomy providers. A combination of factors operating at the health systems and provider level influence the availability of vasectomy at publicly funded family planning organizations in Texas. Multilevel approaches that address key barriers to vasectomy provision would help organizations offer comprehensive contraceptive services.Population Research Cente

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN CLITICS AND WORDS IN DEGEMA, NIGERIA

Defining clitics has been attempted in the literature. Similarities between clitics, affixes, and words have been pointed out. Kari concluded that clitics are not affixes. The question then is if Degema clitics are not affixes, are they words? This paper attempts to distinguish between clitics and words through the similarities and the differences. In showing their differences, some criteria that have been discussed in the literature, especially those discussed in Zwicky (1985) will be highlighted

Removing Citizens: Parenthood, Immigration Courts, and Derivative Citizenship

As a creature of administrative law, Congress has set forth clear, statutory definitions of “parent,” “child,” “son,” “daughter,” and “step-parent.” As a practical matter, these terms create a uniform system by which family relationships are recognized and immigration benefits are conferred. In one notable exception, Congress directs adjudicators to look to state law when determining which children are citizens at birth. Derivative citizenship, the legal process whereby birthright citizenship is passed from a citizen to his or her child who is born outside of the United States, is a technical maze. There are at least nine different statutes in effect that may apply to a person, depending on the child’s birth date and the parents’ citizenship and marital status. Derivative citizenship may be conferred both at the time of birth, and, when specific conditions met, retroactively. Congress made the express policy choice to defer to state definitions of legitimation (also known as parentage) when conferring citizenship. This requires immigration adjudicators to then know, understand, and properly apply the laws of 50 different states when conferring citizenship status. This Article’s focus is on a troubling, contemporary application of derivative citizenship that is occurring in removal proceedings. Often times, a child with one citizen parent will grow up, assuming that he or she is a citizen. It is only after committing a crime in their 20s or 30s do they first learn that their parents never filed the paperwork to declare their status. Although they are still eligible to have their derivative citizenship status conferred retroactively, government attorneys are contesting that the parents who raised them are in fact their legal parents. In extreme cases, the government attorneys are first disclosing to some of these people that the men and women who raised them are not in fact their genetic parents. This Article highlights numerous problems with this practice. Of most import, the immigration judges and government attorneys are misapplying state law when determining who is and is not a parent of a child. Whereas state laws have made clear that love, support, and care is proof of parentage, (and that collateral challenges to parentage may neither be raised after a set number of years nor by strangers to the family unit) immigration courts are ignoring state law to declare that blood alone is the sine qua non of parentage. This Article presents the derivative citizenship scheme, summarizes state law legitimation and parentage statutes, and argues that the immigration courts and government attorneys are grossly distorting family law. Of note, immigration courts are the least desirable forum to adjudicate these claims due to their systematic (and perhaps deliberate) overburdened workload, lack of representation to the alleged (and usually detained) citizen, and the incentive by the government attorney to remove individuals with criminal records, even when those individuals are in fact citizens. The Article ends with proposals to remove these claims from a contested removal proceeding and into either administrative or district court proceedings whereby the adjudicator can faithfully apply the complexities of family law without the distraction of knowing someone’s criminal history

10 Reasons Why Congress Should Defund ICE’s Deportation Force

Calls to abolish ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency tasked with deportations, are growing. ICE consists of two agencies – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which investigates transnational criminal matters, and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which deports non-citizens. The calls to abolish ICE focus on the latter, the ERO deportation force. Defenders proffer that the idea is silly, that abolition could harm public safety, or that advocates of abolition must first explain what, if anything, would replace the agency. Those reasons are not persuasive. The first ignores that federal agencies are not eternal and have been created and eliminated as our country’s priorities change. The second reason is refuted by numerous studies establishing that immigrants are less—not more—likely to be involved in criminal activity than citizens. And of great import, the third reason has not stopped Congress from similarly defunding the federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states that have legalized medical marijuana. This example shows that Congress does not need “an actual proposal for what should replace [enforcement], or even if it should be replaced at all” before defunding enforcement that is no longer a policy priority. This essay enters the debate by proposing a middle ground to the calls to abolish ICE. While Congress is likely to continue funding HSI agency functions, as they are understood as matters of actual public safety, Congress should defund the arrests, detentions, and deportations of millions of people just for being without status. This call, then, is to defund all functions of the ERO deportation force. By stopping short of ICE abolition, the agency could be funded when, and if, Congress creates a legitimate mandate for the agency to follow; a purpose that the agency now lacks

Monitoring of livestock grazing effects on Bureau of Land Management land

Public land management agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are charged with managing rangelands throughout the Western United States for multiple uses such as livestock grazing and conservation of sensitive species and their habitats. Monitoring of condition and trends of these rangelands, particularly with respect to effects of livestock grazing, provide critical information for effective management of these multi-use landscapes. We therefore investigated the availability of livestock grazing-related quantitative monitoring data and qualitative region-specific Land Health Standards (LHS) data across BLM grazing allotments in the Western United States. We then queried university and federal rangeland science experts about how best to prioritize rangeland monitoring activities. We found that the most commonly available monitoring data were permittee-reported livestock numbers and season-of-use data (71% of allotments) followed by repeat photo points (58%), estimates of forage utilization (52%), and finally, quantitative vegetation measurements (37%). Of the 57% of allotments in which LHS had been evaluated as of 2007, BLM indicated 15% had failed to meet LHS due to livestock grazing. A full complement of all types of monitoring data, however, existed for only 27% of those 15%. Our data inspections, as well as conversations with rangeland experts, indicated a need for greater emphasis on collection of grazing-related monitoring data, particularly ground cover. Prioritization of where monitoring activities should be focused, along with creation of regional monitoring teams may help improve monitoring. Overall, increased emphasis on monitoring of BLM rangelands will require commitment at multiple institutional levels