The Impact of Anti-immigrant Environment on Well-being of Latinos of Mexican Descent in the United States

• In Event: 061 - Regular Session. Immigration to the United States: Trajectories of Incorporation/Classification

Abstract

In this study we examine the impact of anti-immigrant environment on the lives of Latinos of Mexican descent. With high levels of deportation and with states and cities passing anti-immigration laws related to employment and housing, we argue that a hostile environment for immigrants has been created at national, state, and local levels. We take a novel approach by assessing anti-immigrant environment from information related to deportation and perception of discrimination in employment and housing. We couch the anti-immigrant environment in perspectives such as, group threat theory, and we argue that the anti-immigrant environment leads to marginalization of the Latino population. Using nationally representative data from the 2008 National Survey of Latino from the Pew Hispanic Center (N=1,726), we seek to answer the following broad research question: how does the anti-immigrant environment affect the population of Mexican descent in the US? Our findings suggest that deportation worries, perceived discrimination in employment, and housing are positively related to measures of well-being-unhappiness and dissatisfaction. We also found that those who perceived severe discrimination-both employment and housing- have elevated likelihood of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. The negative effect of anti-immigrant environment on well-being was observed predominantly for Latinos of Mexican descent compared to those of non-Mexican descent. We argue that as Latinos of Mexican descent form the largest group of immigrants, ethnic minorities, and deportees in the US, this population will be affected by the anti-immigrant environment differently and to a greater extent than the rest of the Latino population.

Authors

• Debarun Majumdar, Texas State University

• Gloria P. Martinez, Texas State Unviersity