Evaluating the impact of immigration policies on health status among undocumented immigrants: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Over the past two decades, new anti-immigration policies and laws have emerged to address the migration of undocumented immigrants. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to assess and understand how these immigration policies and laws may affect both access to health services and health outcomes among undocumented immigrants. Eight databases were used to conduct this review, which returned 325 papers that were assessed for validity based on specified inclusion criteria. Forty critically appraised articles were selected for analysis; thirty articles related to access to health services, and ten related to health outcomes. The articles showed a direct relationship between anti-immigration policies and their effects on access to health services. In addition, as a result of these policies, undocumented immigrants were impacted by mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Action items were presented, including the promotion of cultural diversity training and the development of innovative strategies to support safety-net health care facilities serving vulnerable populations.
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Xenophobia and anti-immigrant policies restrict access to health care services, thereby exacerbating health inequities.
“xenophobia and anti-immigrant policies restrict access to health care services, thereby exacerbating health inequities”
From Nurse-led approaches to address social determinants of health and advance health equity: A new framework and its implications (2023) · cites this paper as Martinez et al., 2015
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- Authors
- Martinez, O., Wu, E., Sandfort, T., Dodge, B., Carballo-Dieguez, A., Pinto, R., Rhodes, S., Moya, E., & Chavez-Baray, S.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- New York State Psychiatric Institute (US)
- Indiana University Indianapolis (US)
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (US)
- The University of Texas at El Paso (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
- Published
- 2013-12-28
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 947-970
- ISSN
- 1557-1912 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-1920
- PMC
- PMC4074451
- OpenAlex
- W2081707238
- Cited by
- 543
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 72 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 1.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2014-01-19)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (P30-MH43520, T32MH019139, T32MH19139, MH-43520, MH-19139, P30MH043520)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Health › Migration, Racism, and Human Rights
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Identity, and Health
- Keywords
- immigration policy, undocumented immigrants, health care access, health outcomes, mental health, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, cultural diversity training, safety net health care, health disparities
- MeSH terms
- Undocumented Immigrants, Health Services Accessibility, Health Status, Humans, Public Policy
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