Mental Health
Exclusionary immigration policy experiences and mental health among Latino residents in rural California and Arizona: Findings from a population-based survey Sidra Goldman-Mellor* Sidra Goldman-Mellor Goldman-Mellor Goldman-Mellor Goldman-Mellor University of California, Merced
Rural-dwelling foreign- and US-born Latinos experience worse mental health than urban Latinos. Exposure to exclusionary immigrant policies is a potentially important but understudied social determinant of their mental health. We conducted a population-based survey of adult Latinos in 14 rural counties in Arizona and California during May-Dec. 2024. Recruitment used address-based and prepaid cell phone list sampling in a multimode design with web- and phone-based interviewing. The survey assessed two aspects of respondents’ exposure to exclusionary immigrant policy experiences: the navigation index summed 14 experiences asserting rights and obtaining resources from, or deciding to avoid, agencies/institutions (e.g., avoiding public benefits due to “public charge” concerns, relying on interpretation services); the encounters index included 16 instances in which policy resulted in Latinos being targeted by an agency/institution or in having a protected right denied (e.g., receiving immigration-related threats from an employer, citizenship verification by law enforcement, being deported). Clinically significant depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using validated cutoff scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The survey had 3,148 respondents (50% male; 69% U.S.-born, 15% naturalized citizen, 16% non-citizen). Adjusted regression analyses showed that a one-unit increase in each experience index score was associated with 20% increased odds of current depression and 30%-40% increased odds of current anxiety. Results were consistent for both citizens and non-citizens, indicating shared burden among rural Latinos regardless of immigration status. Rural Latinos’ exposure to exclusionary immigrant policies is associated with poor mental health in a dose-response manner. If causal, these findings suggest the need to change agency/institutional policies to reduce administrative burden and exclusionary encounters.
