Immigrant Policies as Health Policies

Shedding light on the structural conditions that render Latina/o immigrants vulnerable to ill health requires, in part, bringing attention to the role that immigration policies play in shaping health outcomes.  However, the health implications of immigration policies have received limited attention (with the exception of their effect on access to health care).  To address this gap, this paper uses a social-determinants-of-health approach to argue that immigration policies are, in fact, health policies. The paper outlines several the pathways through which immigration policies impact health outcomes.  Specifically, it draws attention to the ways immigration policies (a) impact the fundamental causes of disease; (b) produce the environments within which Latinas/os experience discrimination; and (c) have a spill-over effect for Latinas/os as a whole, regardless of their nativity or citizenship status.  In addition, the paper posits that immigration policies that promote the full social, economic, and political integration of immigrants have the opportunity to reduce health inequities. Conversely, the lack of such policies marginalizes immigrants, families, and communities, thereby (re)producing Latino/a health inequities.