Expanded Resources for New Challenges
The Undocumented Patients project public database and other project resources have expanded in response to federal policy changes introduced by the Trump administration that affect, in addition to undocumented immigrants, legally present immigrants and asylum seekers.
- Population health among settled immigrants and citizen children in the US is being damaged by pervasive fear, chilling effects, and household disruption (Kaiser Family Foundation 2017).
- The Trump administration has expanded the list of benefits that, if accessed by green card applicants, will reduce their chances of achieving citizenship.
- The benefits accessed which make someone a public charge, previously only cash benefits, now include accessing healthcare through Medicaid or SNAP.
- This redefinition of the Immigration and Naturalization Act’s “public charge” clause, currently paused through a preliminary injunction, has lead to a chilling effect, reducing healthcare use by noncitizen and citizen immigrants alike (Katz and Chokshi 2018).
- Fears regarding impacts of the public charge rule overlap with fears regarding detention and deportation.
- Low-income population with limited access to jobs offering health insurance. Excluded from federally funded insurance (Medicare, Medicaid).
Analysis
Solutions
Undocumented Immigrants and Access to Health Care - NYC Report 2015
A 2014 convening in partnership with the New York Immigration Coalition produced these recommendations for a direct-access approach to health care for uninsured undocumented immigrants. These recommendations were subsequently piloted and fully implemented in the municipal health system in New York City.