| dc.description | In early 2020, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) began to spread through the world, resulting in
a worldwide pandemic and unprecedented health and economic impacts upon our global
community. As the virus spread, governments across the world began to respond with policy
meant to stem the flow of the virus, help their people, and stimulate a struggling economy. In
the United States, the federal government initially responded to the virus with a $2 trillion dollar
aid package and since then, has introduced measures to expand the social safety net and
encourage adherence to public health guidelines. Although the federal government has made
these broad efforts, governmental response has diverged significantly on a state and local level,
with governors and city governments declaring different protocols of varying intensity. The
intersection of this rapidly changing policy at the federal, state, and local levels translates into
different levels of access to healthcare in different areas of the US, and it has caused great
uncertainty for many Americans about their ability to get treated for COVID-19 or other
illnesses. These concerns have been especially exacerbated for populations who are underserved
in healthcare; one of these populations is immigrant communities who may face legal,
socioeconomic, and cultural barriers in their attempt to access health resources.
In this research, I study the impact of local, state, and federal policy on immigrant
populations and their access to healthcare. I investigate a variety of cities (varying in
immigration-policy “friendliness” and immigrant population concentration) to determine how
differing government responses to COVID-19 have translated into different barriers and
opportunities for immigrants at the micro, meso, and macro level. I examine the following
questions: What were common individual barriers that immigrants faced when attempting to
access health resources during the pandemic? What was the role of non-government actors (such
as community-based organizations and healthcare facilities/providers) in increasing access to
healthcare? How did macrostructural factors like government policy, law, and the broad political
climate affect immigrant healthcare access? Did some states or cities have better health
outcomes for their immigrant populations? If so, what were the characteristics of the city’s
existing legislation and what were the characteristics of the city’s response to the pandemic?
Does the leadership of local governments have an impact on health outcomes for immigrants?
How might changes in health and government systems due to the COVID-19 pandemic lead to
more equitable access in the future? | en_US |
