Abasto Magazine

Jill Ferguson and Stephanie Potochnick A recent study fi nds that local immigration enforcement policies increase the risk of food insecurity—a measure of household hunger—in Mexican non-citizen households with children. Until 1996, only the federal government had the power to enforce immigration laws. Since that time, a series of programs have extended immigration authority to local law enforcement agencies. The fi rst of these programs, 287(g), was designed to target criminal offenders by allowing local-level enforcement of federal immigration laws during routine policing activities. However, some local law enforcements used the program to detain as many unauthorized immigrants as possible through driver's license checkpoints, traffi c stops for minor offenses, and raids on homes and businesses. Critics argue that these local-level immigration enforcement efforts, and the record number of deportations that result from them, make Mexican immigrant families, the primary targets of these policies, more vulnerable to hardships. Each year, nearly 90,000 parents—typically fathers—of U.S.-born citizens are deported, leaving single-mothers and children struggling to make ends meet. Critics also say the policies generate fear among Mexican immigrant families, many of whom already live in the shadows, such that they may not utilize vital social services and other support systems. In a recent study, Stephanie Potochnick, assistant professor of public affairs and public health at the University of Missouri, along with her colleagues, used fi ve years of nationally representative data to examine whether the 287(g) program increased Mexican non-citizen immigrant families risk of household food insecurity. Food insecurity is a critical, yet highly preventable, risk factor of child health. Households that are food insecure frequently worry about running out of food, rely on low- cost unhealthy foods, and go hungry because there isn't enough money for food. As a consequence, children in these households are sicker, struggle more in school, and have life-long developmental and health challenges. Food insecurity is of particular concern for children of Mexican immigrants who are nearly four times more likely to experience food insecurity than U.S.-born non- Hispanic white children. In the study, Potochnick and her team identifi ed households in communities with the 287(g) program and examined food insecurity risk before and after the program was adopted. They then compared measures of food insecurity risk among a control group, which were households in communities without the program during the same timeframe. The study found that Mexican non-citizen households with children in communities with the 287(g) program were 10 percentage points more likely to experience food insecurity than similar households in communities without the program. Approximately 30 percent of Mexican non-citizen households in their sample already experienced high levels of food insecurity, so an increase of 10 percentage points is a signifi cant change. Though the federal government ended the 287(g) program in 2012 due to concerns of abuse/misuse, its successor programs—Secure Communities followed by the Priority Enforcement Program—have been more widespread and concerns about abuse/misuse persist. Local-Level Immigration Enforcement Policies Increase Childhood Hunger in Mexican Immigrant Households English Bonus 58 | | Noviembre/Diciembre 2016 Abasto.com

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