The Impact of Immigration Legislation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Reimers
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Japanese Women ◽  
National Origin ◽  
Undocumented Immigration ◽  
Chain Migration ◽  
Immigration Legislation ◽  
Asian Immigration ◽  
The Impact

Racism and economics account for the first laws directed at Chinese and Japanese. Entering as “picture brides,” Japanese women evaded the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907-1908 between the United States and Japan, but by use of the naturalization qualifications in the 1920s, Congress effectively closed the door to Asian immigration. For southern and eastern Europeans, national-origin quotas of the same decade cut their immigration drastically. After 1945, Congress and U.S. presidents relaxed the tight restrictions, and, in 1965, Congress passed the Hart-Celler Act, which created a new and more liberal system that stressed family unification. Major issues in recent years have concerned terrorism and undocumented immigration. Throughout this period, the results of the laws were often unintended, largely because the flow of immediate family members and chain migration were unseen.

scholarly journals Family Separation and the Impact of Digital Technology on the Mental Health of Refugee Families in the United States: Qualitative Study

10.2196/14171 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. e14171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah ◽  
Julia Meredith Hess ◽  
Jessica R Goodkind
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Financial Barriers ◽  
Family Separation ◽  
Ict Use ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundConflicts around the world have resulted in a record high number of refugees. Family separation is a critical factor that impacts refugee mental health. Thus, it is important to explore refugees’ ability to maintain contact with family members across the globe and the ways in which they attempt to do so. It is increasingly common for refugees to use information and communication technologies (ICTs), which include mobile phones, the internet, and social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber, for these purposes.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore refugees’ perceptions of the impact of communication through ICTs on their mental health, the exercise of agency by refugees within the context of ICT use, especially their communication with their families, and logistical issues that affect their access to ICTs in the United States.MethodsWe used a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyze in-depth interviews of 290 adult refugee participants from different countries, who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a community-based mental health intervention.ResultsAnalyses showed that communication through ICTs had differing impacts on the mental health of refugee participants. ICTs, as channels of communication between separated families, were a major source of emotional and mental well-being for a large number of refugee participants. However, for some participants, the communication process with separated family members through digital technology was mentally and emotionally difficult. The participants also discussed ways in which they hide adversities from their families through selective use of different ICTs. Several participants noted logistical and financial barriers to communicating with their families through ICTs.ConclusionsThese findings are important in elucidating aspects of refugee agency and environmental constraints that need to be further explicated in theories related to ICT use as well as in providing insight for researchers and practitioners involved in efforts related to migration and mental health.

scholarly journals Serving kinship families During COVID: Pivotal moments

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 835-835
Author(s):  
Andrea Smith ◽  
Michelle Mongeluzzo ◽  
Tawyna Drente
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Service Agency ◽  
Level Of Involvement ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Pivotal Moments ◽  
Kinship Caregivers ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Kinship caregivers, who are relatives or non-family members providing care to children when biological parents are unable to do so, comprise over 2.5 million adults in the United States. The vast majority are grandparent caregivers. The 7.8 million children in their care make up approximately 10.5 percent of all children in the United States under the age of 18 (Generations United, 2017: State of Grandfamilies). Navigating daily life is often challenging. Kinship caregivers routinely face difficulties in multiple aspects of their lives, including finances, physical health, mental health, education, employment, parenting, and family relationships. The COVID pandemic heightened existing challenges and stimulated new issues for many kinship providers and the children in their care. This poster will highlight actions taken by one Family Service agency, annually serving approximately 225 kinship families, to meet the unprecedented needs of family members and kinship program staff during COVID. A timeline of decision-related rationales, specific actions taken and results related to these actions will be presented. Data summarizing results for kinship families (n =32) related to COVID-impacted programmatic responses and changes, including level of involvement with group services, recidivism, perceived isolation, and efficacy related to their caregiving roles will be presented. Results summarizing the impact of the agency's COVID-related responses on kinship staff (n = 6) will also be presented, including data on staff members' level of stress, perceived support, perceptions of programmatic effectiveness, and prioritized importance of changes will also be shared.

Undocumented College Students in the United States: A category in need of further analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Deguili
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
College Students ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Undocumented Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undocumented Immigration ◽  
Undocumented College Students

This paper concerns itself with a subset of undocumented immigrants, that of undocumented students in the United States. While many sociologists have engaged with undocumented immigration in general, not much attention has been paid to this growing group and when it has been done these students were treated as a unified and undiversified category. In this letter, instead, I intend to outline some of the ways in which the label of undocumented student and its consequences may vary greatly depending on a number of different elements, among them: the different legal status of various family members, the different methods of entry into the country, family structure, and the influence of the communities that surround them.

The impact and implications of undocumented immigration on individual and collective health in the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
DeAnne K. Hilfinger Messias ◽  
Marylyn Morris McEwen ◽  
Lauren Clark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undocumented Immigration ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Family Separation and the Impact of Digital Technology on the Mental Health of Refugee Families in the United States: Qualitative Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah ◽  
Julia Meredith Hess ◽  
Jessica R Goodkind
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Financial Barriers ◽  
Family Separation ◽  
Ict Use ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Conflicts around the world have resulted in a record high number of refugees. Family separation is a critical factor that impacts refugee mental health. Thus, it is important to explore refugees’ ability to maintain contact with family members across the globe and the ways in which they attempt to do so. It is increasingly common for refugees to use information and communication technologies (ICTs), which include mobile phones, the internet, and social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber, for these purposes. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore refugees’ perceptions of the impact of communication through ICTs on their mental health, the exercise of agency by refugees within the context of ICT use, especially their communication with their families, and logistical issues that affect their access to ICTs in the United States. METHODS We used a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyze in-depth interviews of 290 adult refugee participants from different countries, who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a community-based mental health intervention. RESULTS Analyses showed that communication through ICTs had differing impacts on the mental health of refugee participants. ICTs, as channels of communication between separated families, were a major source of emotional and mental well-being for a large number of refugee participants. However, for some participants, the communication process with separated family members through digital technology was mentally and emotionally difficult. The participants also discussed ways in which they hide adversities from their families through selective use of different ICTs. Several participants noted logistical and financial barriers to communicating with their families through ICTs. CONCLUSIONS These findings are important in elucidating aspects of refugee agency and environmental constraints that need to be further explicated in theories related to ICT use as well as in providing insight for researchers and practitioners involved in efforts related to migration and mental health.

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