Immigration Policies Shape Latinos' Trust in Health Information

Immigration policy, and especially restrictive policies, are linked to health care access, and can lead to distrust and avoidance of health services. Immigration policy contexts are shaped by media coverage, but we know little about the link between how media covers immigration policy and Latino health care access. We looked at how media covered immigration policy and if it is related to Latinos' distrust of health information from the government.

To examine the relationship between media coverage of immigration policy and distrust, we used data from a content analysis of immigration policy news stories in 15 US states between 2010-2013 and 2017-2019 and a multiethnic sample from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), to assess the relationship between coverage of inclusive and exclusive immigration policies and levels of distrust in health information from the government.

The results show news coverage of both inclusive and exclusive immigration policies was associated with higher distrust in health information from the government among all respondents. There were no significant differences in the association between high distrust and health information among Latinos, compared to non-Hispanic White and Black population groups.

The paper suggests that immigration as a news topic may also have a role in shaping distrust in health information from the government that is independent of immigration policy. In particular, even coverage of inclusionary immigration policies may not be protective to Latino and immigrant trust in health information as expected.