For clarity, these show notes and this podcast episode will be inclusive of undocumented immigrants and immigrants with legal status. 

In the United States today, there are more than 8 million citizens who live with at least one family member who may be undocumented. Yesenia Chavez with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) and Jaclyn Dean with the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) talk to us about the fight for access to healthcare for immigrants. 

Children make up the majority of the millions of citizens who live with at least one family member. In fact, 6 million of these citizens are children. This means that many types of immigration enforcement actions come with severe emotional, mental, developmental, physical and financial repercussions for both the children and the undocumented individuals. 

Immigrants are not able to legally access public benefit programs until they have proven their permanent resident status, and only after five years of having that status. These programs can help provide housing, food, and health security to these communities. It is important to note that this same five-year bar also prevents access to the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace. This means that opportunities for immigrant individuals and families are already limited, and immigrants often rely on a patchwork of insurance sources to cover healthcare. If their employer does not cover insurance or if they do not qualify for Medicaid, then immigrants often have to turn to paying for emergency care out of pocket, or seeking help through a community health center.

46% of immigrant, non-citizen women of reproductive age in the U.S. are privately insured, 19% rely on Medicaid for their insurance, and 34% are completely uninsured. The uninsured rate for immigrant women of reproductive age who are living in poverty is 48%. Nearly half of all immigrants in the U.S. are women and children.

For more information, check out Future Hindsight: https://www.futurehindsight.com/

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