County- and state-level immigration policies are associated with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation among Latino households

M Pia Chaparro; Amy H Auchincloss; Sofia Argibay; Dominic A Ruggiero; Jonathan Purtle; Brent A Langellier

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116141

County- and state-level immigration policies are associated with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation among Latino households

Soc Sci Med. 2023 Sep:333:116141. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116141. Epub 2023 Aug 6.

Authors

M Pia Chaparro¹, Amy H Auchincloss², Sofia Argibay³, Dominic A Ruggiero⁴, Jonathan Purtle⁵, Brent A Langellier⁶

Affiliations

¹ Nutritional Sciences Program, Department of Health Systems and Population Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Raitt Hall 305, Box 353410, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA. Electronic address: pchap@uw.edu.
² Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Nesbitt Hall, 3215 Market St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. Electronic address: aha27@drexel.edu.
³ Department of Health Management and Policy, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Nesbitt Hall, 3215 Market St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. Electronic address: sa3735@drexel.edu.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Nesbitt Hall, 3215 Market St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. Electronic address: dr3225@drexel.edu.
⁵ Department of Public Health Policy and Management, School of Global Public Health, New York University, 708 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003, USA. Electronic address: jonathan.purtle@nyu.edu.
⁶ Department of Health Management and Policy, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Nesbitt Hall, 3215 Market St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. Electronic address: bal95@drexel.edu.

PMID: 37572629
PMCID: PMC10530172 (available on 2024-09-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116141

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between county- and state-level immigrant criminalizing and integrating policies and Latino household participation in the largest safety net program against food insecurity in the U.S., the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Our outcome, county-level proportion of SNAP-participating Latino households, and county-level covariates were obtained from the American Community Survey 1-year county files (N = 675 counties) for 13 years (2007-2019). Our exposures were county-level presence of sanctuary policies and a state-level immigrant friendliness score, created based on 19 immigrant criminalizing and integrating state-level policies obtained from the Urban Institute's State Immigration Policies Resource. We classified every county in the sample as 1) sanctuary policy + immigrant friendly state, 2) sanctuary policy + immigrant unfriendly state, 3) no sanctuary policy + immigrant friendly state, and 4) no sanctuary policy + immigrant unfriendly state. Using multivariable generalized linear models that adjusted for poverty levels and other social composition characteristics of counties, we found that county-level SNAP participation among Latino households was 1.1 percentage-point higher in counties with sanctuary policies (B = 1.12, 95%CI = 0.26-1.98), compared to counties with no sanctuary policies, and 1.6 percentage-point higher in counties with sanctuary policies in immigrant friendly states (B = 1.59, 95%CI = 0.33-2.84), compared to counties with no sanctuary policy in immigrant unfriendly states. Local and state immigration policy, even when unrelated to SNAP eligibility, may influence SNAP participation among Latino households. Jurisdictions which lack sanctuary policies or have more criminalizing and less integrating policies should consider adopting targeted outreach strategies to increase SNAP enrollment among Latino households.

Keywords: Food insecurity; Immigration; Latino; Policy; Supplemental nutrition assistance program.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Emigration and Immigration* / legislation & jurisprudence
Family Characteristics
Food Assistance*
Food Supply
Hispanic or Latino
Humans

Grants and funding

R01 MD015107/MD/NIMHD NIH HHS/United States