scholarly journals Putting Americans First: A Statistical Case for Encouraging Rather than Impeding and Devaluing US Citizenship

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 108-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Kerwin ◽  
Robert Warren

Executive Summary This article examines the ability of immigrants to integrate and to become full Americans. Naturalization has long been recognized as a fundamental step in that process and one that contributes to the nation’s strength, cohesion, and well-being. To illustrate the continued salience of citizenship, the article compares selected characteristics of native-born citizens, naturalized citizens, legal noncitizens (most of them lawful permanent residents [LPRs]), and undocumented residents. It finds that the integration, success, and contributions of immigrants increase as they advance toward naturalization, and that naturalized citizens match or exceed the native-born by metrics such as a college education, self-employment, average personal income, and homeownership. It finds that: Naturalized citizens enjoy the same or higher levels of education, employment, work in skilled occupations, personal income, and percentage above the poverty level compared to the native-born population. At least 5.2 million current US citizens — 4.5 million children and 730,000 adults — who are living with at least one undocumented parent 1 obtained US citizenship by birth; eliminating birthright citizenship would create a permanent underclass of US-born denizens in the future. Requiring medical insurance would negatively affect immigrants seeking admission and undocumented residents who ultimately qualify for a visa. About 51 percent of US undocumented residents older than age 18 lack health insurance. In 2017, about 1.2 million undocumented residents lived with 1.1 million eligible-to-naturalize relatives. If all the members of the latter group naturalized, they could petition for or expedite the adjustment or immigration (as LPRs) of their undocumented family members, including 890,000 “immediate relatives.” Their naturalization could put 11 percent of the US undocumented population on a path to permanent residency. The article also explores a contradiction: that the administration’s “America first” ideology obscures a set of policies that impede the naturalization process, devalue US citizenship, and prioritize denaturalization. The article documents many of the ways that the Trump administration has sought to revoke legal status, block access to permanent residence and naturalization, and deny the rights, entitlements, and benefits of citizenship to certain groups, particularly US citizen children with undocumented parents. It also offers estimates and profiles of the persons affected by these measures, and it rebuts myths that have buttressed the administration’s policies. For example, the Trump administration and restrictionist legislators have criticized the US immigration system’s emphasis on family reunification for its supposed failure to produce skilled workers. Yet the article finds that: The current immigration system, which prioritizes the admission of the nuclear family members of US citizens and LPRs, yields a legal foreign-born population that has occupational skills equal to those of the native-born population. The legal foreign-born population living in 24 US states and Washington, DC, and those from 94 source countries 2 have higher percentages of skilled workers than the overall population of native-born workers.

2021 ◽  
pp. 001789692110615
Author(s):  
Nancy Bedingfield ◽  
Bonnie Lashewicz ◽  
Dina Fisher ◽  
Kathryn King-Shier

Objective: In low tuberculosis (TB) incidence countries, linguistic and cultural dissonance between families experiencing infectious TB and TB health care providers is a barrier to effective communication and successful treatment. The purpose of this research was to explore infectious TB education and counselling from the perspective of patients and family members who are foreign-born. Design/Setting: One component of a multiphase, qualitative case study conducted in Calgary, a large city in western Canada. Method: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, chart review and field notes and analysed thematically. Eight families were represented in the 6 patient and 13 family member participants who had recently experienced infectious TB. Results: Three themes were generated from the data: ‘learning about TB from many sources’, ‘reassurance and connection’ and ‘missing information’. Participants described learning about TB in different ways, feeling reassured once they knew more and sharing information with others. Overall, participants expressed satisfaction with education and counselling received. However, there were indications that communication problems had occurred. Participants asked questions during the interview, described areas of lingering confusion and shared TB-related behaviours incongruent with medical understanding. Knowledge gaps often increased isolation. Conclusion: Gaps in infectious TB education and counselling have negative impacts on patient and family member well-being. Education and counselling can be improved using multiple modes of communication, proactively addressing common misperceptions and reducing barriers to patient participation. Improvements could empower families to better manage their own experience and share accurate TB information with their communities.


Author(s):  
Annie Jane Keeney ◽  
Amy Quandt ◽  
Mercy D. Villaseñor ◽  
Daniela Flores ◽  
Luis Flores

Hispanic/Latino and migrant workers experience high degrees of occupational stress, constitute most of California’s agricultural workforce, and were among the most impacted populations by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, relatively little is known about the occupational stress experienced by farmworkers who commute daily between the US and Mexico. Occupational stress is considered an imbalance between the demands at work and the capabilities to respond in the context of the workforce. The goal of this study is to determine the type and severity of stressors in daytime and resident farmworkers and how COVID-19 vaccination status contributes to these stressors. Interviews containing the Migrant Farmworker Stress Inventory (MSWSI) were administered to a sample of 199 Hispanic/Latino farmworkers in Imperial County, a multi-billion-dollar agriculture sector in the US. Principal factor analysis differentiated latent factors in the MFSWI. Simple linear regression models and correlations identified associations between MFWSI scores and sample characteristics. The MFWSI reduced to five stressor domains: Health and Well-Being Vulnerabilities, Inadequate Standards of Living/Unknown Conditions of Living, Working Conditions, Working Environment, and Language Barriers. Approximately 40 percent of the respondents reported significant stress levels, with foreign-born (p = 0.014) and older respondents (p = 0.0415) being more likely to experience elevated stress regardless of their nighttime residence. We found that Spanish-language COVID-19 outreach might have been particularly effective for workers who reported high stress from English-language communication (p = 0.001). Moreover, our findings point to the importance of worker and human rights to mitigate the high-stress foreign-born workers who live in Mexico and the US experience.


2020 ◽  
pp. 231150242095275
Author(s):  
Donald Kerwin* ◽  
Robert Warren*

This article provides detailed estimates of foreign-born (immigrant) workers in the United States who are employed in “essential critical infrastructure” sectors, as defined by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (DHS 2020). Building on earlier work by the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), the article offers exhaustive estimates on essential workers on a national level, by state, for large metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and for smaller communities that heavily rely on immigrant labor. It also reports on these workers by job sector; immigration status; eligibility for tax rebates under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act); and other characteristics. It finds that: Sixty-nine percent of all immigrants in the US labor force and 74 percent of undocumented workers are essential workers, compared to 65 percent of the native-born labor force. Seventy percent of refugees and 78 percent of Black refugees are essential workers. In all but eight US states, the foreign-born share of the essential workforce equals or exceeds that of all foreign-born workers, indicating that immigrant essential workers are disproportionately represented in the labor force. The percentage of undocumented essential workers exceeds that of native-born essential workers by nine percentage points in the 15 states with the largest labor force. In the ten largest MSAs, the percentages of undocumented and naturalized essential workers exceed the percentage of native-born essential workers by 12 and 6 percent, respectively. A total of 6.2 million essential workers are not eligible for relief payments under the CARES Act, as well as large numbers of their 3.8 million US citizen children (younger than age 17), including 1.2 million US citizen children living in households below the poverty level. The foreign-born comprise 33 percent of health care workers in New York State, 32 percent in California, 31 percent in New Jersey, 28 percent in Florida, 25 percent in Nevada and Maryland, 24 percent in Hawaii, 23 percent in Massachusetts, and 19 percent in Texas. Section I of the article describes the central policy paradox for foreign-born workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: that they are “essential” at very high rates, but many lack status and they have been marginalized by US immigration and COVID-19-related policies. Section II sets forth the article’s main findings. Section III outlines major policy recommendations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 282-300
Author(s):  
Donald Kerwin* ◽  
Robert Warren*

Executive Summary This article provides detailed estimates of foreign-born (immigrant) workers in the United States who are employed in “essential critical infrastructure” sectors, as defined by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (DHS 2020). Building on earlier work by the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), the article offers exhaustive estimates on essential workers on a national level, by state, for large metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and for smaller communities that heavily rely on immigrant labor. It also reports on these workers by job sector; immigration status; eligibility for tax rebates under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act); and other characteristics. It finds that: Sixty-nine percent of all immigrants in the US labor force and 74 percent of undocumented workers are essential workers, compared to 65 percent of the native-born labor force. Seventy percent of refugees and 78 percent of Black refugees are essential workers. In all but eight US states, the foreign-born share of the essential workforce equals or exceeds that of all foreign-born workers, indicating that immigrant essential workers are disproportionately represented in the labor force. The percentage of undocumented essential workers exceeds that of native-born essential workers by nine percentage points in the 15 states with the largest labor force. In the ten largest MSAs, the percentages of undocumented and naturalized essential workers exceed the percentage of native-born essential workers by 12 and 6 percent, respectively. A total of 6.2 million essential workers are not eligible for relief payments under the CARES Act, as well as large numbers of their 3.8 million US citizen children (younger than age 17), including 1.2 million US citizen children living in households below the poverty level. The foreign-born comprise 33 percent of health care workers in New York State, 32 percent in California, 31 percent in New Jersey, 28 percent in Florida, 25 percent in Nevada and Maryland, 24 percent in Hawaii, 23 percent in Massachusetts, and 19 percent in Texas. Section I of the article describes the central policy paradox for foreign-born workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: that they are “essential” at very high rates, but many lack status and they have been marginalized by US immigration and COVID-19-related policies. Section II sets forth the article’s main findings. Section III outlines major policy recommendations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Lekshmi S. Kaimal ◽  
Ani Merly Paul

Migration is a multidimensional process involving interrelated aspects that affect those who move, those who are behind, and the host country. Kerala has contributed significantly to the outflow of workers to the Middle East. Often the positive impacts of migration are as highlighted as it makes an important contribution to the economy, to welfare and of course to cultural diversity of the state, but it affects the psycho- social and emotional well-being of the left behind family members. This paper addresses effects of migration on the families left behind in homeland; the objectives include: 1. to analyze the socio-economic background of emigrant worker’s family. 2. To identify the nature and the reasons of migration. 3. To find out the benefits received by family through the migration of a member. 4. To find out the effect of emigration on family relationships and psycho -social and emotional stresses experienced by the left behind family. The study is based on primary data of families of emigrant workers to the Middle East, mostly unskilled and semi-skilled workers who were not eligible for family visas. Mixed method was used in the study. Sample sizes consist of 150 families selected through snowball sampling method. The study revealed that migration improved their socioeconomic conditions, and they were started to acquire their aspiration and apart from benefits, the migration also added socio-psychological stresses to the family members


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Narendra Kumar Singh ◽  
Nishant Goyal

Background: Schizophrenia is associated with a high familial, social and economic burden. Schizophrenia is also associated with a high level of disability which may create impediments on the social and economic areas of the patients as well as on their respective family networks. Families with schizophrenia may encounter problems such as impairment of health and well being of other family members, restriction of social activities of the family members and shrinking of support from the social network. Aims: The present study examined the difference in perceived social support and burden of care between the male and female caregivers of patients with schizophrenia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study examining the difference in perceived social support and burden of care between the male and female caregivers of patients with schizophrenia. The sample consisted of 60 (30 male and 30 female) caregivers of the patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia as per ICD-10-DCR. Results and Conclusion: This study revealed that male caregivers perceived more social support and less burden of care as compared to female caregivers. Key words: Gender, social support, burden


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S235-S235
Author(s):  
Jooyoung Kong ◽  
Yin Liu ◽  
David Almeida

Abstract Extensive evidence suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can lead to negative health effects across a lifetime. This study examines the impact of ACEs on the frequency of providing daily support (i.e., unpaid assistance, emotional support, and disability-related assistance) to family members and the moderating effects of ACEs in the association between providing daily support to family and daily negative affect. Using the National Study of Daily Experiences II, we analyzed a total of 14,912 daily interviews from 2,022 respondents aged 56 on average. Key results showed that a greater number of ACEs were associated with providing more frequent emotional support to family. We also found the significant interaction effect that adults with more ACEs showed greater negative affect on the days when they provided assistance to family members with disabilities. The findings underscore the long-term negative impact of ACEs on daily well-being in the context of family relationships.


Incarceration ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 263266632097780
Author(s):  
Alexandra Cox ◽  
Dwayne Betts

There are close to seven million people under correctional supervision in the United States, both in prison and in the community. The US criminal justice system is widely regarded as an inherently unmerciful institution by scholars and policymakers but also by people who have spent time in prison and their family members; it is deeply punitive, racist, expansive and damaging in its reach. In this article, we probe the meanings of mercy for the institution of parole.


2020 ◽  
Vol 254 ◽  
pp. R54-R66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Dullien ◽  
Sabine Stephan ◽  
Thomas Theobald

Under the Trump administration, a transatlantic trade conflict has been escalating step by step. First, it was about tariffs on steel and aluminium, then about retaliation for the French digital tax, which is suspended until the end of the year. Most recently, the US administration threatened the European Union with tariffs on cars and car parts because of Canadian seafood being subject to lower import duties. As simulations with NiGEM show, a further escalation of the transatlantic trade conflict has the potential to slow down economic growth significantly in the countries involved. This is a considerable risk given the fact that the countries have to cope with the enormous negative effects of the pandemic shock. Furthermore, the damage caused by the trade conflict depends on the extent to which the affected countries use fiscal policy to stabilise their economies.


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