The Effects of Deportation and the Threat of Deportation on Food Insecurity among Latino Immigrant Families

• In Event: 1107 - Deportation Threats and Realities in the United States

Abstract

Rates of deportation and detention of immigrants have increased substantially in the United States over the last three decades, along with a more general expansion of crimmigation (the blurring of lines between immigration and criminal laws) (Menjívar et all. 2018, Patler and Golash-Boza 2017). Existing research shows how deportation contributes to economic hardship, social stigma, and negative health outcomes in immigrant families (Dreby 2012, 2015). One recent study also specifically finds that the ramping up of immigration enforcement increases the risk of food insecurity in Mexican non-citizen households with children (Potonochnick et al. 2017). However, the processes that drive this relationship are unclear. In this study, drawing on multiple interviews conducted over a five-year period with 25 low-income Latina immigrant mothers in North Carolina, we show how deportation and the threat of deportation shape food decisions and contribute to food insecurity. Over the course of our study, two families had direct experiences with deportation; it impacted women’s financial and material resources and their identities and roles within their families, including how they fed their families. Even among families that were not directed affected, however, the threat of deportation influenced their willingness to apply for food systems and their shopping behaviors. In general, our results suggest that the processes that underlie the relationship between deportation and food insecurity are complicated and tied to social context.

Authors

• Sarah Bowen, North Carolina State University

• Sinikka Elliott, University of British Columbia

• Annie Hardison-Moody, North Carolina State University