The Undocumented Asian Immigrant Population

• November 2018: Supplemental funding of $19,205 granted.

Asians comprise about 14% of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Moreover, from 2000 to 2013, undocumented immigration from Asia increased by 202%, while undocumented immigration from Mexico increased by 29%. But despite their rising numbers, little is known about Asian undocumented immigrants. Social demographer Annie Ro, in consultation with sociologist Jennifer Van Hook, will validate imputation methods for identifying the undocumented Asian population and explore their demographic characteristics using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). They will focus on Asian adults in California across the 2001, 2004 and 2008 panels, which included migration status. 

After validating the imputation methods, they will apply the results of the SIPP analysis to the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and explore the effects of legal status on the health and wellbeing of the Asian population and their children. They will examine the association between documentation status and a variety of health outcomes, including body mass index, self-rated health, mental health status, medical access and utilization, and chronic conditions. They will also examine the subset of immigrants with children under the age of 18 and examine the association between parental documentation status and children’s health and wellbeing outcomes, including body mass index, general health, medical access and utilization, emotional distress and school attendance.