"If you hold my hand, no one will be able to take you away from me": The Health Implications of an Immigration Raid on a Mixed-Status Latino community in Washtenaw County, Michigan
Immigration raids, used with increasing frequency in the United States in 2016, exemplify the reach of immigration law enforcement into the lives of Latino community members. Yet little research characterizes their health implications. Using a mixed methods critical case study design and a conceptual framework of illegality, this study investigates the health implications of a collaborative immigration raid that occurred in Washtenaw County, Michigan, on November 7, 2013. Quantitative data come from the Encuesta Buenos Vecinos, a community survey of Latinos in Washtenaw County. Qualitative data come from participant observation with law enforcement and the mixed-status Latino community in which the raid occurred, as well as interviews with 1) individuals directly involved in the raid, 2) members of social networks of individuals directly involved in the raid, and 3) representatives of social service and community organizations in the community in which the raid occurred.
Findings provide strong evidence that immigration raids have negative effects on the well-being of Latinos in mixed-status communities. The social networks of those involved in the raid moderated its negative impacts by providing social and economic support. However, the sociocultural context that included 1) police and immigration enforcement collaboration; 2) policies that restrict access to driver’s licenses; and 3) law enforcement that prioritizes drug laws and ignores collateral damage (that is, damage inflicted on unintended targets); contributed to an environment in which individuals avoided encounters in which their immigration statuses may be disclosed. This avoidance limited the ameliorative impact of social networks and access to needed services.
Implications from these findings suggest that social service organizations need to provide a range of services in accessible locations after immigration raids to support those directly involved, their families, and other community members; and that local police would be more effective in maintaining relationships with Latino communities if they did not enforce immigration law. Policies that support access to legal driver’s licenses among undocumented immigrants and end the use of collaborative immigration raids—especially those that target recently arrived mothers and children from Central America—would promote the health of Latinos in mixed-status communities.PHDHealth Behavior & Health EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135839/1/wdlopez_1.pd
