Efforts to Address Family Violence: How Localized Immigration Enforcement Impacts Undocumented Latino Immigrants

Background: A great deal of public health scholarship explores family and intimate partner violence through models of control and power, behavioral cycles, and ecological determinants. However, additional efforts to address violence must explore how family and intimate partner violence may be embedded within broader social systems, including immigration policies and police practices.  The objective of this study is to examine how recent immigration laws and police practices in the state of Georgia have impacted family and intimate partner violence among undocumented immigrants.

Methods: Guided by a systems-perspective, this qualitative study employed participatory methodologies to gain trust among community members. A total of 51 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders across the socio-ecological levels between fall 2012 and spring 2013: undocumented immigrants (intrapersonal); health providers (organizational); immigrant rights organization leaders (community), and policy makers (society). 

Results: Findings illustrate how recent immigration laws and local police practices have impacted undocumented immigrant families’ well-being and creating new concerns for how agencies respond to violence. For example, informants reported immigration laws playing a role in not reporting violence, increasing substance use, and needing to revise family safety plans.

Discussion: Findings reveal health-related consequences of non-health related laws, demonstrating how policy is a key factor in systems-related research on immigrant health.  Moreover, this research highlights how immigration laws may impede public health efforts to address family and intimate partner violence, indicating a need for new violence prevention strategies that respond to the complex lived experiences of undocumented immigrants living in the United States.