Immigration raids affect community health, study says

Immigration raids could have considerable health effects in the surrounding community, further marginalizing people and preventing them from seeking health-care services, a new study says.

The study by the University of Michigan School of Public Health was based on a survey that was in progress when an immigration raid took place in November 2013 in Washtenaw County in southeastern Michigan.

The survey found that people, including those born in the U.S, were less likely to seek government services after the raid and less likely to engage with their community.

The study also showed a decline of self-rated health among community members, with 55 percent of respondents rating their health as excellent or very good before the raid. But 51 percent said their health was excellent or very good after the raid.

"People might not realize it, but this affects our entire community on a daily basis. These are our family and friends, students and coworkers. They are the people preparing our food, caring for our children," said William Lopez, a doctoral student at U-M School of Public Health and one of the researchers in the project.

Daniel Kruger, lead researcher of the study, said, "Even if we can't change the immigration policies or prevent raids from happening, people should know that they can access these services. If they know how the system works and what would and would not put them at risk, hopefully people would be more likely to use those services."

He added, "One thing that agencies can do is to explicitly tell people in their marketing materials that using their services will not put them at risk of deportation."

The study was published in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.