Author: Sara Xhaja; 3rd year Human Biology Undergraduate
Faculty Mentor: stef shuster
Abstract
The semester long paper I completed in LB326B explored if the current state of the U.S. healthcare system is equipped to take care of people with varying citizenship statuses or if it’s negligent and further enabling present health disparities by answering the question, how does the legality of a person, in regard to citizenship status in the United States, affect one’s accessibility to healthcare? In order to answer this question, the analysis focused on the stigmas surrounding migrant populations, barriers to care, and the intersectionality in the U.S. healthcare system. Prior research highlights that “research on the effect of immigration status on population health disparities… is more limited,” with studies focusing on one’s nativity to the country rather than how one’s legal status impacts health disparities. This is a gap that must be addressed as there exists different classes of migrants within the U.S. population and a “focus on nativity rather than legal classification may obscure the health problems the most vulnerable group members face” (Asad and Clair, 2018).
Link to video: https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/t/1_wbv9yzqh