Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-21-2022
Abstract
U.S. non-citizen residents are burdened by inequitable access to socioeconomic resources, potentially placing them at heightened risk of COVID-19-related disparities. However, COVID-19 impacts on non-citizens are not well understood. Accordingly, the current study investigated COVID-19 mortality disparities within New York (NYC) and Los Angeles (LAC) to test our hypothesis that areas with large proportions of non-citizens will have disproportionately high COVID-19 mortality rates. We examined ecological associations between March 2020–January 2021 COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000 residents) and percent non-citizens (using ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) for NYC and City/Community units of analysis for LAC) while controlling for sociodemographic factors. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed significant positive associations between the percentage of non-citizen residents and COVID-19 mortality rates in NYC (95% CI 0.309, 5.181) and LAC (95% CI 0.498, 8.720). Despite NYC and LAC policies intended to provide sanctuary and improve healthcare access for non-citizen residents, communities with larger proportions of non-citizens appear to endure higher COVID-19 mortality rates. The challenges that non-citizens endure—e.g., inequitable access to public benefits—may discourage help-seeking behaviors. Thus, improved health surveillance, public health messaging, and sanctuary policies will be essential for reducing COVID-19 mortality disparities in communities with large shares of non-citizens.
Recommended Citation
Douglas, J.A.; Bostean, G.; Miles Nash, A.; John, E.B.; Brown, L.M.; Subica, A.M. Citizenship Matters: Non-Citizen COVID-19 Mortality Disparities in New York and Los Angeles. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 5066. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095066
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
The authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Community-Based Research Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Health Services Administration Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons
Comments
This article was originally published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, volume 19, in 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095066
This scholarship is part of the Chapman University COVID-19 Archives.