Nativity and citizenship status affect Latinos’ health insurance coverage under the ACA

ABSTRACT

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to increase health insurance access for the over 47 million uninsured people in the U.S.A., among whom ethnoracial minorities had the highest uninsured rates before the ACA. Studies have shown that Latinos have had the greatest improvements in health coverage under the ACA, but many may be at a significant disadvantage, specifically due to their nativity and immigration status, as the ACA explicitly excludes unauthorised immigrants from most of its provisions. Using the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey, a nationally representative sample of Latinos (n?=?1493), we find that variation in health insurance access among Latinos can be traced to immigration status. This study finds no differences among U.S.-born versus foreign-born Latinos in the likelihood of being uninsured in 2015. However, among foreign-born Latinos, unauthorised immigrants are five times more likely than naturalised citizens to be uninsured and less likely to visit a primary care provider or clinic, even after controlling for other factors including language, income and education.     

Nationalist parties and immigration in Flanders: from Volksunie to Spirit and N-VA

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to the literature on the sub-state nationalist and regionalist parties (SNRPs) by investigating the policy positions in the immigration ambit taken by the Flemish nationalist party Volksunie, and by its successors after the party fell apart in 2001. We do so by analysing the party manifestos for all elections between 1978 and 2014. Beyond providing a detailed case study, the article has broader ambitions. The paper bridges the gap between the party literature and the literature on immigration and integration policies. It does so in two ways. First, it relies on a more nuanced categorisation of policy positions proposed by the immigration policy literature, which is absent in the party literature. Second, it draws explicit attention to the nation-building strategy of SNRPs as an intervening explanatory variable, mediating the influence of party competition and ideology.     

Is coverage enough? Persistent health disparities in marginalised Latino border communities

ABSTRACT

What has been the fate of those living in the place once dubbed the ‘county that needs the Affordable Care Act the most’? This article presents results from a longitudinal, five-year ethnographic study of healthcare access in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. It explores reasons why this region along the U.S./Mexico border has the highest rate of uninsured persons in the country and remains among the most medically underserved, despite some increases in coverage accompanying the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It argues that the convergence of healthcare and immigration policy, framed by a unique regional history and social environment, has had multiple direct and indirect impacts on health and healthcare access. It examines the impact of the ACA on access for Latino immigrants and mixed-status households, which contain a mix of citizens, legal residents, and undocumented persons. It argues that the ACA aided in shifting the conversation to promoting private insurance coverage and away from more fundamental access barriers for low-income working populations ineligible for its benefits. This has eclipsed discussions about fundamental causes of persistent and highly racialised health disparities.     

Diversities of National Identity in a Multicultural Society: The Australian Case

During the past half-century Australian immigration policy has moved from the assimilationist doctrine of Anglo-conformity, whereby non-British settlers were expected to adopt the Australian way-of-life, to a policy of multiculturalism that accepts and respects the cultures and traditions of newcomers, governed only by an overriding commitment to the basic institutions of Australian society. Newcomers are encouraged to take out Australian citizenship, which is available to immigrants after two years' residence, provided that they meet some other requirements, for example, the ability to speak and understand basic English. Notwithstanding changes in official policy, the population at large has a more diverse range of understandings of what it means to be 'truly Australian'. In this paper, I validate an earlier typology of such understandings and explore the social and attitudinal correlates of beliefs about Australian identity among four broad groupings of Australians: dogmatic nativists; literal nativists; civic nationalists; and moderate pluralists. Data are drawn from modules on Australian identity from the 1995 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and the 1996 Australian Electoral Survey (AES). I explore the substance of these different understandings in terms of the beliefs and attitudes that Australians of various persuasions hold about a range of current social and political issues, such as levels of immigration, the effect immigrants have on the economy and society, views about the monarchy versus a Republic, the role of trade unions, and related issues.     

What’s left unsaid? In-group solidarity and ethnic and racial differences in opposition to immigration in the United States

Do racial and ethnic characteristics of non-immigrants play an important role in shaping attitudes toward immigrants in the U.S.? Using a 2010 survey experiment representative of the U.S. general population, this paper examines differences in opposition to immigration by the race or ethnicity of the respondent. By manipulating the amount of anonymity offered to respondents, the experiment allows explicit opposition to be distinguished from implicit opposition, which offers unique insight into the extent to which opposition is masked. Consistent with theories of in-group solidarity, we find that Hispanics, who comprise nearly half of all immigrants in the U.S., overtly express a less restrictive posture, which, relative to Black and White respondents, is not significantly masked. In contrast, White and Black respondents only overtly express more openness to immigration. When offered absolute anonymity, opposition is significantly and substantively greater. The implications are profound in that differences in the extent to which opposition is masked, rather than overtly expressed, fundamentally patterns racial and ethnic differences in opposition to immigration in the U.S.     

The politics of evidence-based policy in Europe’s ‘migration crisis’

ABSTRACT

Increased migration across the Mediterranean to Europe during 2015 was associated with growing interest in generating new research evidence to assist policymakers in understanding the complexities of migration and improve policy responses. In the UK, this was reflected in funding by the Economic and Social Research Council for a Mediterranean Migration Research Programme. Drawing on evidence from the programme, this volume explores the nature of Europe’s ‘migration crisis’ and the extent to which the development of new migration management policies was grounded in evidence about the causes, drivers and consequences of migration to Europe. The authors conclude that there is a substantial ‘gap’ between the now significant body of evidence examining migration processes and European Union policy responses. This gap is attributed to three main factors: the long-standing ‘paradigm war’ in social research between positivist, interpretivist and critical approaches which means that what counts as ‘evidence’ is contested; competing knowledge claims associated with research and other forms of evidence used to construct and/or support policy narratives; and, perhaps most importantly, the politics of policymaking, which has resulted in policies based on underlying assumptions and vested interests rather than research evidence, even where this evidence is funded directly by European governments.     

Discrimination and Chronic Kidney Disease among Caribbean Blacks: The Effects of Immigration and Social Status

This study examined the association between discrimination and chronic kidney disease (CKD) among Caribbean blacks and how this association varies by marital status, educational attainment, and length of U.S. residency within the frameworks for the stress buffering hypothesis and stress process model. The analysis was based on the Caribbean black subsample of the National Survey of American Life (N?=?1551). Logistic regression models were conducted to test the aims of this study. The findings indicate that the association between discrimination and CKD varied by length of U.S. residency, marital status, and education. Overall, the findings demonstrate the importance of considering immigration and sociodemographic context when investigating the relation between discrimination and CKD in immigrant populations.     

Multi-level governance of an intractable policy problem: migrants with irregular status in Europe

ABSTRACT

This article explores the responses of European local authorities to the public service needs of residents with irregular immigration status and the tensions with national governments to which this can give rise. Drawing on a study of responses by national and local tiers, including a mapping of national legal frameworks on entitlements to health care and education, it identifies factors that lead to divergence between local and national policy framing and responses. Finding that socio-economic and individual consequences of exclusion dominate in shaping local framing of policy responses in contrast to national government priorities, it explores the implications for modes of multi-level governance (MLG) on this issue. It expands on the concept in the literature of ‘decoupling’, contrasting relationships of overt conflict with low-visibility strategies of conflict avoidance; demonstrating the differing forms this ‘shadow politics’ of migrants’ rights and shadow provision of services can take, including arms-length provision through NGOs. Thus the dynamic of MLG is itself one part of explaining the nature of local responses to the challenges that migrants with irregular status can pose.     

Nevertheless,They Persist: American and European Muslim Immigrants in the Era of Trump

This paper reviews the consequences of Donald J. Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies vis-à-vis his travel ban on Muslim immigration experiences. The paper looks at the impact of Trump’s and like-minded European leaders’ Islamophobic rhetoric and policies on dominant cultures, public policies, and assimilation of Muslims in the U.S. and in Europe. The review correlates said rhetoric and policies with public attitudes about Muslims, the rise of hate crimes and violence against Muslims, public policy changes, and assimilation (including civic engagement) of Muslims. The paper contrasts the differences in attitudes and responses of Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the U.S. and Europe. It concludes that U.S. and European Muslims retain overall positive attitudes about their new home countries and institutions and are politically engaged against the rise of anti-Muslim xenophobia, which varies between America and Europe, based on their respective histories, cultures and economies.     

越美混血儿:越南战争的悲情遗产

本文所称"越美混血儿"指在越南战争期间美国的士兵和其他驻越人员与越南妇女生下的孩子。他们在越南时备受社会歧视,被称为"生命的尘埃"。虽然后来美国政府出台政策允许他们移民到美国,但他们融入美国社会的过程非常艰难。     

Caste,kinship and the realisation of ‘American Dream’: high-skilled Telugu migrants in the U.S.A.

ABSTRACT

Literature on the Indian diaspora domiciled in the U.S.A. largely portrays the group as educated, highly skilled migrants in pursuit of their American Dream, without critically engaging with the regionally particularised migration trajectories that predispose only certain groups to become skilled migrants from the global South to the North. Migration studies bracket skilled migrants as those who make rational choices and choose formal routes to migrate whereas unskilled migrants often rely on informal channels of kinship or ethnicity to migrate. Unsettling this proposition, in this article, based on an ethnographic study of the high-skilled Telugu professionals in the U.S.A. and their families living in Coastal Andhra, India, I show how aspirational and topographical migration pathways from Coastal Andhra to the U.S.A. are created and sustained through networks of kinship, caste and endogamous transnational marriage alliances. These high-skilled migrants (doctors, engineers and scientists) from the dominant castes have successfully manoeuvred spatial mobility and social upward mobility by utilising ‘caste capital’ within a transnational social field. Moreover, decades of migration from the dominant castes have shaped a caste-inflected transnational habitus among its members who see migration of their youth to the U.S.A. as desirable, and at times, also inevitable.     

Selfishness of the affluent? stateless nationalist and regionalist parties and immigration

ABSTRACT

This paper examines stateless nationalist and regionalist party (SNRP) discourses on immigration through an exploration of the economic dimensions of the centre-periphery cleavage. Using qualitative document analysis, the Republican Left in Catalonia (ERC) and the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Scotland are studied in order to see whether and how the relative economic position of a region shapes SNRP discourses on immigration. The period of analysis encompasses the last three terms of office for both parties, during which immigration and decentralisation have been very salient issues in Catalonia and Scotland. Results suggest that the relative economic situations and the economic crisis do not seem to affect general stances, which are positive in both regions. However, the economic contexts have an influence on how each party selects its main issues for debate, and the ways in which these are managed.     

Gender and citizenship in academic career progression: an intersectional,meso-scale analysis in German higher education institutions

ABSTRACT

In tune with the fundamental shift in Germany’s skill-b(i)ased immigration policy since 2005, higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly becoming ‘magnets’ for a skilled migrant workforce. While ‘internationalisation’ is often understood as something to be celebrated and (further) accomplished, some observers speak of clear signs of discriminatory experiences among racialised and migrant academics. This is a new aspect, as social inequalities have by and large been considered in migration studies to be the sole terrain of labour mobility into less-skilled sectors of the economy. Meanwhile, abundant literature on gender and higher education shows that women academics have poorer access to career progression than men, demonstrating gender-based academic career inequalities. However, the insights generated in these two strands of scholarship have seldom been in conversation with one another. This paper takes stock of the lack of an intersectional perspective, focusing on citizenship and gender within HEIs as hiring meso-level organisations that are becoming increasingly transnationalised. It explores the intersectionality of citizenship and gender in accessing academic career advancement by examining three key career stages, that is, doctoral researchers, postdoctoral researchers, and professors, in two case-study HEIs.     

A president,A scholar,and an immigration bill

ABSTRACT

In this paper I look critically at George Borjas's scholarship on immigration. Borjas is widely considered to be academia's leading immigration skeptic. He consistently contends that low skilled and low educated immigrants (both ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’) hurt the US economy in many different ways, including suppressing the wages of different minority groups. However, a rigorous reading of Borjas's scholarship reveals many troubling epistemological assumptions.     

Recruitment in public administrations: diversity policies and selection practices in a French city

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of an ethnographic study of recruitment processes in the public service of a French city. It begins by engaging with the existing literature on representative bureaucracy and discrimination of members of minority groups and then surveys some of the existing literature on French exceptionalism in this domain. Based on an analysis of gate-keeping practices and recruitment, set off against the numerical under-representation of candidates with an immigration background, the paper argues that a series of seemingly minor mechanisms help to explain why so few of these candidates are being selected. It concludes by arguing that the empirical study of these mechanisms provides avenues for strategic interventions in selection processes aiming to create more genuine equal opportunities for members of minority groups.     

Attracting the best talent in the context of migration policy changes: the case of the UK

ABSTRACT

Employment projections and skills strategies emphasise the importance of (highly) skilled labour for competitiveness. A strategic focus on ‘attracting the best talent’ globally may conflict with policies to ‘grow local talent’. This issue is considered in the UK context of a shift from a liberal immigration regime to a demand-led system characterised by increasing restriction, through adjustments to a points-based system to manage labour migration from outside the European Economic Area (EEA). The specific focus is on an annual limit on non-EEA labour migrants introduced in 2011 and tightening of eligibility criteria for entry of (highly) skilled migrants, amid business’ concerns that this might stifle economic growth. Drawing on 20 employer case studies and literature on skills and migration policy, the article investigates the costs and implications for business in adhering and seeking to adapt to migration policy changes. Such changes pose administrative burdens on employers and limit business flexibility but associated monetary costs to businesses are difficult to quantify. Adaptation strategies and the impact of migration rule changes vary: some firms experience limited impact, some adjust their recruitment behaviour and some feel their underlying business rationale is threatened. Developing local talent is a partial long-term solution.     

The microfoundations of diaspora politics: unpacking the state and disaggregating the diaspora

ABSTRACT

Recognising the need to unpack ?the ‘state’ and? ?problematise? the term? ‘diaspora’, in this special issue we examine the various actors within (and beyond) the state that participate in the design and implementation of diaspora policies, as well as the mechanisms through which ???diasporas?? are constructed by governments, political parties, diaspora entrepreneurs, or international organisations?. Ex??tant theories are often hard-pressed to capture the empirical variation and often end up identifying ‘exceptions’. We?? theorise these ‘exceptions’ through three interrelated? conceptual moves: First, ??we focus on? ??underst?udie?d? aspects of the relationships between states as well as organised non-state actors and their citizens or co-ethnics? abroad (??or at home – in cases of return migration).? Second, ??we? ??examine dyads of ?origin states and specific diasporic communities differentiated by time of emigration, place of residence, socio-economic status, migratory status, generation, or skills. T?hird??,? ?we ?consider? migration in its multiple spatial and temporal phases (emigration, immigration, transit, return??)? and ?how the???y?? inter?sect to?? constitute diasporic identities?? and policies. ??These? conceptual moves contribute to comparative research in the field and allow us to identify the mechanisms? connect?ing structural variable??s with ? specific policies by states ?(and other actors?) as well as responses? by the relevant ?diasporic ?communi?ties??.     

Still left out: healthcare stratification under the Affordable Care Act

ABSTRACT

The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) increased healthcare access for many Americans. But, its exclusion of most noncitizens and imperfect state-level implementation stratified coverage by documentation status, place, income level, race, and ethnicity across the U.S.A. Drawing from the sociological literature on boundaries, this paper argues that these demographic boundaries facilitate de jure and de facto stratification for immigrants and low-income Americans of various ethnoracial backgrounds. Using existing survey research regarding national ACA implementation and a qualitative study of ACA implementation in Boston, MA, this paper shows how such stratification may worsen existing disparities in healthcare coverage and access among the U.S. population. Implications regarding President Donald Trump and conservative lawmakers’ plans to repeal the ACA are also discussed. The paper contributes to researchers’ understanding of how public policies produce boundaries by place, documentation status, race, ethnicity, and income that facilitate inequality.     

试论美国对墨西哥移民政策的钟摆化

特朗普执政后,美国对墨西哥移民政策越发紧缩。回顾美墨之间的历史,美国对墨西哥移民政策一直呈现钟摆化。表现为美国政府在该问题上的立场钟摆化、法案钟摆化和执法模式钟摆化,导致了一系列墨西哥族裔在美国认同危机和两国关系的恶化。钟摆化对墨移民政策有很多的负面影响,基于三种不同的假设,未来美墨之间在墨西哥移民议题上仍会采取合作大于对抗的模式。美国为了避免对墨移民政策的钟摆化带来的失衡结果,追求稳定连续的措施和对墨友好合作才是解决之道。