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Protecting unauthorized immigrant mothers improves their children's mental health.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Hainmueller, J; Lawrence, D; Martén, L; Black, B; Figueroa, L; Hotard, M; Jiménez, TR; Mendoza, F; Rodriguez, MI; Swartz, JJ; Laitin, DD
Published in: Science
September 8, 2017

The United States is embroiled in a debate about whether to protect or deport its estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants, but the fact that these immigrants are also parents to more than 4 million U.S.-born children is often overlooked. We provide causal evidence of the impact of parents' unauthorized immigration status on the health of their U.S. citizen children. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program granted temporary protection from deportation to more than 780,000 unauthorized immigrants. We used Medicaid claims data from Oregon and exploited the quasi-random assignment of DACA eligibility among mothers with birthdates close to the DACA age qualification cutoff. Mothers' DACA eligibility significantly decreased adjustment and anxiety disorder diagnoses among their children. Parents' unauthorized status is thus a substantial barrier to normal child development and perpetuates health inequalities through the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Science

DOI

EISSN

1095-9203

Publication Date

September 8, 2017

Volume

357

Issue

6355

Start / End Page

1041 / 1044

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Undocumented Immigrants
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Mothers
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Disorders
  • Medicaid
  • Male
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology
 

Citation

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Hainmueller, J., Lawrence, D., Martén, L., Black, B., Figueroa, L., Hotard, M., … Laitin, D. D. (2017). Protecting unauthorized immigrant mothers improves their children's mental health. Science, 357(6355), 1041–1044. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan5893
Hainmueller, Jens, Duncan Lawrence, Linna Martén, Bernard Black, Lucila Figueroa, Michael Hotard, Tomás R. Jiménez, et al. “Protecting unauthorized immigrant mothers improves their children's mental health.Science 357, no. 6355 (September 8, 2017): 1041–44. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan5893.
Hainmueller J, Lawrence D, Martén L, Black B, Figueroa L, Hotard M, et al. Protecting unauthorized immigrant mothers improves their children's mental health. Science. 2017 Sep 8;357(6355):1041–4.
Hainmueller, Jens, et al. “Protecting unauthorized immigrant mothers improves their children's mental health.Science, vol. 357, no. 6355, Sept. 2017, pp. 1041–44. Pubmed, doi:10.1126/science.aan5893.
Hainmueller J, Lawrence D, Martén L, Black B, Figueroa L, Hotard M, Jiménez TR, Mendoza F, Rodriguez MI, Swartz JJ, Laitin DD. Protecting unauthorized immigrant mothers improves their children's mental health. Science. 2017 Sep 8;357(6355):1041–1044.
Journal cover image

Published In

Science

DOI

EISSN

1095-9203

Publication Date

September 8, 2017

Volume

357

Issue

6355

Start / End Page

1041 / 1044

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Undocumented Immigrants
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Mothers
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Disorders
  • Medicaid
  • Male
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology