THE BOUNDARIES OF ILLEGALITY: THE IMPACT OF U.S. STATE-LEVEL POLICIES ON MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS’ MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

Mental health disparities among Mexican immigrants in the United States are shaped not only by individual characteristics, but also by broader policy climates in which immigrants live in. Drawing on the framework of structural racialized stigma, this study examines how state-level immigration policies are associated with adverse mental health outcomes among Mexican immigrants. Individual-level data from the Mesoamerican Migrant Project were merged with state-level immigration policy data from the Urban Institute to examine four policy measures: enforcement, integration, public benefits, and employment verification. Multilevel logistic regression models were estimated to account for individuals nested within states, and Firth penalized logistic regression models were used as robustness checks because of the rarity of the outcome. Results indicate that the Jail 287(g) agreement is associated with a higher predicted probability of adverse mental health outcomes, whereas an inclusionary policy, obtaining a driver’ license access, are associated with a lower predicted probability of adverse mental health outcomes. These findings suggest that state immigration policies operate as mechanisms of structural racialized stigma by shaping legal vulnerability, institutional exclusion, and access to resources. This study extends structural stigma theory by explicitly incorporating racialization into the analysis of immigration policy and mental health.