Uncertainty About the Size of the Unauthorized Foreign-Born Population in the United States.

One of the most common methods for estimating the U.S. unauthorized foreign-born population is the residual method. Over the last decade, residual estimates have typically fallen within a narrow range of 10.5 to 12 million. Yet it remains unclear how sensitive residual estimates are to their underlying assumptions. We examine the extent to which estimates may plausibly vary owing to uncertainties in their underlying assumptions about coverage error, emigration, and mortality. Findings show that most of the range in residual estimates derives from uncertainty about emigration rates among legal permanent residents, naturalized citizens, and humanitarian entrants (LNH); estimates are less sensitive to assumptions about mortality among the LNH foreign-born and coverage error for the unauthorized and LNH populations in U.S. Census Bureau surveys. Nevertheless, uncertainty in all three assumptions contributes to a range of estimates, whereby there is a 50% chance that the unauthorized foreign-born population falls between 9.1 and 12.2 million and a 95% chance that it falls between 7.0 and 15.7 million.

Sensitive subjects: research choices and presentational challenges in studying immigrant children and families.

We write from our own experience as researchers on the integration of immigrants and their children, describing several ethical and research considerations that we addressed. In one study we examined the use of public benefits among immigrant families. This study posed issues regarding the selection of which "benefits" should be considered as "welfare"; how to construct comparison groups of immigrants versus natives; and the political sensitivities in reporting widely high use rates of certain benefits, particularly Medicaid. A second study examined the effects of parental detention and deportation on children. It raised issues regarding identifying samples of immigrants to interview, creating trust with interviewees and protecting their confidentiality, and examining the views not just of advocates and families but others involved in the process (such as law enforcement officials) to ensure their perspectives were reflected in resulting reports. A third project examined the young children of Black immigrants--a group that varies widely in their modes of entry, recency of arrival, and levels of human capital. To avoid simplistic misinterpretations, we disaggregated data by national origin where possible and ensured that the results highlight both the risks and protective factors identified.

Discrimination and PTSD among Latinx immigrant youth: The moderating effects of gender.

OBJECTIVE: Discrimination is a minority-related stressor that contributes to mental health disparities between Latinx youth and their racial/ethnic peers. Discrimination activates the body's stress response system, resulting in a higher allostatic load that can cause mental health problems such as PTSD. We explored 1) the relation between perceived discrimination and PTSD symptoms among Latinx immigrant youth, and 2) how gender moderates this relation. METHODS: We conducted surveys with 306 Latinx first- and second-generation immigrant youth during the 2018-19 school year in Harris County, Texas and Rhode Island. RESULTS: We found that youth who perceived more discrimination were more likely to report PTSD symptoms. Female participants reported higher levels of PTSD symptoms than males, including higher levels of avoidance and reexperiencing symptoms. Perceived discrimination was associated with increased PTSD symptoms, including hypervigilance and avoidance symptoms, for female participants but not males. These interactions did not differ by location. CONCLUSION: These results further provide support for research into discrimination as a potentially traumatic experience linked to PTSD and underscore the importance of including discrimination in assessments of trauma and adverse childhood outcomes among Latinx immigrant youth. Results further suggest the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding how discrimination relates to PTSD among Latinx immigrant youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Immigration Enforcement Fear and Anxiety in Latinx High School Students: The Indirect Effect of Perceived Discrimination.

PURPOSE: Immigration enforcement policies and negative rhetoric about immigrants harm the psychological well-being of Latinx youth in immigrant families, particularly those who are most vulnerable because of their own or their loved ones' legal status. According to the Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies among Minority Children, discrimination may be one pathway to explain how vulnerability to restrictive immigration policies affects Latinx youth mental health. METHODS: We collected data from 306 Latinx high school students from immigrant families in Harris County, Texas, and Rhode Island to (1) determine the direct effect of immigration enforcement fear (a proxy for the social position of vulnerable legal status) on adolescents' anxiety; (2) explore the effect of immigration enforcement fear on anxiety through the pathway of perceived discrimination; and (3) test whether the different enforcement climates in the two study sites moderate these pathways. Total anxiety and subscales measuring separation, social, school, generalized, and somatic anxiety subtypes were analyzed. RESULTS: Immigration enforcement fear was related to increased somatic and separation anxiety in both first- and second-generation Latinx adolescents. Perceived discrimination partially mediated the association between immigration enforcement fear and separation and somatic anxiety; data collection site did not moderate these effects. CONCLUSIONS: Immigration policies and rhetoric have psychological consequences. Although the adolescents in our study face multiple stressors, immigration enforcement fear may heighten their perception of discrimination, in turn, likely elevating their physiological and family separation anxiety.

Changes in sexual risk behavior as young men transition to adulthood.

CONTEXT: Understanding how young men's sexual risk behaviors change during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood is important for the design and evaluation of effective strategies to reduce the transmission of HIV and other STDs. METHODS: Data from three waves of the National Survey of Adolescent Males (1988, 1991 and 1995) were used to categorize 1,880 respondents into clusters according to sexual risk behaviors. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to assess associations between clusters and rates of self-reported STD diagnoses and positive chlamydia tests. RESULTS: Two dimensions of sexual risk-taking defined the clusters: partner characteristics and condom use. More than 50% of men remained in low-risk groups over time. In the first two waves, 24-32% of men reported engaging in high-risk behaviors (risky partners, condom nonuse); these behaviors were associated with elevated levels of STD outcomes. Nearly 40% of men who entered a high-risk group in the first two waves transitioned to a lower risk group by the third wave. Nine percent of men either engaged in increasingly risky behaviors or maintained membership in high-risk groups; elevated STD rates characterized both trajectories. Low condom use combined with having multiple partners during adolescence was associated with elevated STD rates in the year preceding the third wave; high condom use coupled with having risky partners was not. CONCLUSIONS: The prominence of low-risk behaviors over time suggests that most young men avoid sexual risk-taking. Effective strategies to reduce HIV and STD risk in young men must simultaneously address multiple dimensions of sexual behavior.

Commentary on "The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States: Estimates based on demographic modeling with data from 1990-2016".

"The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States: Estimates based on demographic modeling with data from 1990-2016" by Fazel-Zarandi, Feinstein and Kaplan presents strikingly higher estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population than established estimates using the residual method. Fazel-Zarandi et. al.'s estimates range from a low or "conservative" number of 16.7 million unauthorized immigrants, to an "average" of 22.1 million, and to a high of 27.5 million. The Pew Hispanic Center estimated the population at 11.3 million in 2016, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimated it at 12.3 million. The new method shows much more rapid growth in unauthorized immigration during the 1990s and a substantially higher population in 2000 (13.3 million according to their "conservative" model) than Pew (8.6 million) and DHS (8.5 million). In this commentary, we explain that such an estimate for 2000 is implausible, as it suggests that the 2000 Census undercounted the unauthorized immigrant population by at least 42% in the 2000 Census, and it is misaligned with other demographic data. Fazel-Zarandi, Feinstein and Kaplan's model produces estimates that have a 10 million-person range in 2016, far too wide to be useful for public policy purposes; their estimates are not benchmarked against any external data sources; and their model appears to be driven by assumptions about return migration of unauthorized immigrants during the 1990s. Using emigration rates from the binational Mexican Migration Project survey for the illegal border-crosser portion of the unauthorized population, we generate a 2000 unauthorized population estimate of 8.2 million-slightly below Pew and DHS's estimates-without changing other assumptions in the model. We conclude that this new model's estimates are highly sensitive to assumptions about emigration, and moreover, that the knowledge base about emigration in the unauthorized population during the 1990s is not well enough developed to support the model underlying their estimates.