Legal Status as a Social Determinant of Health Across Generations: The Impact of Temporary Protected Status on Haitian Mothers' Birth Outcomes

Chenoa Allen , University of Wisconsin-Madison

Since 1990, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been one of the US’s main humanitarian programs providing protection to foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their home countries. In a major shift in international policy, the US will terminate TPS protections for 428,000 migrants – including 58,000 Haitian-born migrants – over the next 18 months. It is likely that loss of legal status will negatively impact the health of TPS recipients and their US-born children. As the first study to examine the health impacts of TPS, this study will use nationwide data from all infants born in the US to Haitian-born mothers (n=93,426) and synthetic control methods to answer the question: Did gaining access to legal status through TPS improve birth outcomes for Haitian-born mothers? Results will provide evidence about the potential negative health effects of terminating TPS.

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 Presented in Session 239. Flash Session: Social Policy and Child Well-being