Beyond Borders: How Migration and Public Health Are Inextricably Linked

It is vital to remember that migration is a public health issue. The challenges that migrants face during their journey and upon arrival have significant impacts on both individuals and the wider population at the border.

The Roots of the Migration Crisis

The Syrian refugee disaster is a result of the Middle East’s failure to grapple with modernity and Europe’s failure to defend its ideals.

A Mass Migration Crisis, and It May Yet Get Worse

There are more displaced people and refugees now than at any other time in recorded history — 60 million in all — and they are on the march in numbers not seen since World War II. They are coming not just from Syria, but from an array of countries and regions, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, even Haiti, as well as any of a dozen or so nations in sub-Saharan and North Africa. They are unofficial ambassadors of failed states, unending wars, intractable conflicts.

The mental-health crisis among migrants

The refugees and migrants surging into Europe are suffering very high levels of psychiatric disorders. Researchers are struggling to help.

Understanding Migration

The picture of migration, in the US and worldwide, is vastly more complicated than at first glance -- and modern technology, economic and ecological factors, and ease of movement promise greater complexity in the future.

How stigmas impact refugee and migrant health

People who migrate or flee their homes experience major health barriers, a new WHO report shows. These barriers can be exacerbated by stigmas — some of which are imposed by health care providers, and some by society.

Migrant health is global health

The number of migrants worldwide is at a record high level. An investment in migrant health is an investment in the future: migrants should be seen as a resource rather than a burden.

Migrant vs. refugee: what the terms mean, and why they matter

When people leave one country for another, that's called "migration" — regardless of the reason. But confusingly, according to the United Nations and to most migration experts, not everyone who engages in migration is a migrant. Instead, the term "migrant" is used to refer to someone who chooses to leave his or her home country — not someone who's forced to do it. Here's what the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrants says (emphasis added):

What's a good word for the welcome given to Ukrainian refugees in Europe? 'Generous'

Do countries taking in Ukrainian refugees have the ability to address their medical needs?

A Public Health Crisis at the Border

Detained children must be screened more rigorously for communicable disease.

A Way Out of the Immigration Crisis

The only answer to today’s polarized debate is amnesty for those already here, new standards for those seeking entry and a return to the ideal of the melting pot.

Barriers to health care for undocumented immigrants: a literature review

There are numerous and wide-ranging barriers to receipt of health care for undocumented immigrants. These barriers are not only legal in nature but also encompass challenges inherent in “undocumented” or illegal status. They include policy limitations, the fear of disclosure, and the lack of both social and financial assets.

Borders, Immigrants & Health

A public health crisis is unfolding along and inside the US-Mexico border. Immigrants arriving at the US border are likely to have experienced political, economic, or interpersonal violence prior to their arrival, leading to unmet mental health and physical health needs. Immigrants detained at the border may face crime and violence in border towns as they await trial in the US, or prolonged stays in detention centers and family separations if they are able to cross the border. Immigrants in the US face health challenges that extend well beyond the border.

California first to cover health care for all immigrants

Nationwide, federal and state governments join together to give free health care to low-income adults and children through Medicaid. But the federal government won’t pay for people who are living in the country illegally.

Cardiovascular health and disease in migrant populations: a call to action

Large differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality exist between migrant populations and host populations. Understanding the drivers behind these disparities may help to mitigate the unequal burden of CVD and identify new causal pathways that contribute to CVD risk in the population at large.

CBP Defends Conditions At Border Detention Centers Amid Upsurge In Migrants

"These are not kids in so-called cages. They are not being separated from their family at the border," he said, acknowledging, "But these are facilities that you wouldn't want your child in for more than 10 minutes. They are big rooms. Kids are sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor. They are sort of bunched about six inches to a foot from each other."

Displacement and health: 'The anti-immigrant rhetoric needs to stop'

Fleeing threats in your home country, surviving a journey that few can imagine, then, finally, if you are lucky, reaching a country you hope will welcome you. This is the reality for many refugees. But what then?

For undocumented immigrants, our enforcement policies drive a public mental health crisis

Imagine running away from a lion all your life — that's how 11 million undocumented immigrants feel today, and it takes a toll on their mental health.

Genetic Testing to Reunite Immigrant Families Raises Issues of Privacy and Consent

ests offered by companies like 23andMe may be overly broad, and could take too long to return children to their parents.

GeoMedicine - OK, Maybe We Should Move!

GeoMedicine will probably serve as a catalyst for future human migration from one part of the globe to another in the quest for minimizing personal health risks. And, it may be sooner than you think!

Healthcare policies have consequences. She has spent seven years understanding them

“People talk about immigration as though it’s a very black and white issue, but when you add healthcare into the mix and really start to talk to people, talk to the immigrant population, talk to health care providers, talk to lawmakers, people from various types of organizations, it reveals a much greater picture and a much more complicated and more nuanced picture, one with lots of moving parts and people can easily fall through the cracks,” she says.

How American Citizens Finance $18.5 Billion In Health Care For Unauthorized Immigrants

In this post, I describe in more detail current policy, current sources of funding for health care of unauthorized immigrants.

How Fear of Deportation Affects the Body

It's not enough that it wreaks havoc on a person's mental health.

How Immigration Became So Controversial

Immigration seems to be the most prominent wedge issue in America.

How Trump’s travel ban threatens health care, in 3 charts

Our health system is heavily reliant on foreigners. Immigrants make up 22 percent of the health workforce and 30 percent of doctors and surgeons in the US.

Immigration makes America great

Current policy could be improved, but American progress depends on welcoming foreigners.

Low-income immigrants are afraid to seek health care amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Visiting doctors and stockpiling food aren’t measures everyone can afford to take.

Meet the Woman Providing Health Care to Migrant Children Near the US-Mexico Border

Garcia, who is a single mom and small business owner, founded the nonprofit One Hundred Angels in 2018, just months before she noticed the influx of asylum seekers in Phoenix. “The circumstances we find them in are alarming. They are so weak — physically and emotionally,” Garcia explained. The One Hundred Angels volunteer medical team now works out of 28 churches and shelters in Phoenix that welcome asylum seekers and has supported 18,000 people to date. They triage, assess migrants for emergencies, and provide comfort packages containing vitamins, electrolytes, and over-the-counter drugs.

Millions of Refugees, Migrants Suffer Ill Health for Lack of Care

A new study shines a light on the health risks, challenges, and barriers faced daily by millions of refugees and migrants who suffer from poor health because they lack access to the health care available to others in their host countries.

Refugees and mental health: 'These people are stronger than us'

After months of fear and uncertainty, even refugees who have reached safety face a psychological battle to get back on their feet.

Sick and Afraid, Some Immigrants Forgo Medical Care

Across the country, from Venice, Calif., to Brooklyn, clinics that serve an immigrant population report a downturn in appointments since the administration’s crackdown. In a recent national poll of providers by Migrant Clinicians Network, which is based in Austin, Tex., two-thirds of respondents said they had seen a reluctance among patients to seek health care.

Stanford’s dean of medicine says restricting immigration to the US is bad for our health

Because the challenges of health are global realities, biomedical science must be a global pursuit. Medical research, in particular, benefits from the insights of scientists with a broad range of perspectives. Now, immigration policies threaten to shut down scientists’ ability to help people everywhere live longer, healthier lives.

The family separation crisis is a health crisis

But as much as the family separation crisis is a story about immigration policy and our country’s values, it is also a health crisis.

The health risks faced by refugee and migrant children

Many have come from countries with broken health systems, travelling for months (even years) with no access to health care and facing the constant risks of violence and exploitation along the way. Many girls and boys arriving in Europe have missed out on life-saving immunization and have experienced serious distress or even mental health problems.

The Health Toll of Immigration

Becoming an American can be bad for your health. A growing body of mortality research on immigrants has shown that the longer they live in this country, the worse their rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. And while their American-born children may have more money, they tend to live shorter lives than the parents.

The Immigration Debate We Need

The coming debate would be far more honest and politically transparent if we demanded a simple answer from those who disagree with “America First” proposals: Who are you rooting for?

The real border crisis: medical neglect of migrants in detention centers

As a physician who has evaluated adults held in immigration jails, I have witnessed conditions in detention facilities that are unsafe for adults and deadly for children. Advocates have called attention to overcrowding, insufficient food and water, and abusive conditions at border processing facilities. Across the country, immigration jails are plagued by human and civil rights abuses and dangerously subpar access to medical care.

The scramble to reunite immigrant kids with their families is a case study in poor project management

Once children are identified, the agency says it is using DNA tests to confirm that the children are matched with the right parents. This, according to the government’s request for a deadline extension, is what’s delaying the whole procedure.

The Toxic Health Effects of Deportation Threat

The fear of immigration raids can harm children’s brains and health, potentially for life.

U.K. to Relax Immigration Rules to Aid Struggling National Health Service

Home Office to exempt medical staff from annual cap on visas for skilled workers from outside the EU.

Undocumented immigrants on dialysis forced to cheat death every week

Every week, 18-year-old Alex watches his mother steadily decline, not able to do anything about it until she arrives at the precipice of death -- at which point, he will rush her to the hospital.

We’re providing medical care to a new type of migrant — the climate migrant

We must reformulate our health systems to accommodate climate migrants, whether they are arriving at the border because their crops failed or they have developed acute health issues arising from disaster. With no connections and few resources to help them connect to care, they must be able to find health services while in a new town.

Why Has America Been Such a Magnet for Immigrant Scientists?

The answer lies in a culture that rewards excellence and has not historically imposed restrictions based on prior connections, social status, ethnicity or national origin.