Immigrant families in California and across the U.S. are suffering on a number of fronts due to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, according to a new study.
Researchers from the nonprofit Center for the Study of Social Policy and The Children’s Partnership interviewed community health workers and other frontline providers in San Diego, the Bay Area and the Central Valley.
Shadi Houshyar, director of health justice policy at the center, said the change to public charge rules leads parents to forgo benefits like Medi-Cal and CalFresh, even for their U.S. citizen children.
“It has impacted families’ ability both to access care but also their sense of vulnerability about what might happen if they were to access benefits, even when they’re eligible for them,” Houshyar explained.
More than 3.8 million California children live in immigrant families and 90% are U.S. citizens. President Donald Trump said the deportations of close to 1 million people so far in his second term are necessary to protect American jobs and taxpayer funds.
The study found the constant pressure and fear of the raids are undermining children and families’ physical and mental health. In addition, Houshyar noted families already hurt by inflation are thrown into financial chaos when parents cannot work or are deported.
“They are isolating from their communities, from supports because they’re afraid of the consequences of leaving their homes, going to job sites, taking their children to school or to the doctor,” Houshyar observed.
The authors suggested helping the helpers. They advocated for hiring more community health workers and promotoras, paying them better and giving them better training so they can help families get through trying times.
