Researchers from Loyola University Chicago and The University of Tennessee Knoxville have found that stress and discrimination levels among immigrants in the United States varied significantly across the two most recent federal administrations. Under President Donald Trump, non-White immigrants experienced considerably higher levels of stress and discrimination compared to their White counterparts, a disparity that was not evident during President Joe Biden’s term. The findings have been published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work.
The U.S. is a melting pot of cultures, with immigrants making up about 15% of the population. These individuals often face significant challenges, such as adapting to new cultural norms and navigating complex immigration policies that can vary dramatically with each administration.
Trump regularly employed divisive rhetoric targeting immigrants and adopted stringent immigration policies. High-profile enforcement actions included parent-child separations and large workplace raids, leading to widespread fear and increased stress among both documented and undocumented immigrants.
In contrast, the subsequent Biden administration took steps to reverse many of Trump’s policies, reducing workplace raids and family detentions, and reinstating some immigration pathways, though some controversial policies have remained.
Given the significant shifts in policy and the potential impacts on immigrant well-being, the researchers aimed to fill a critical knowledge gap by exploring how these changes were related to immigrant stress, discrimination, and resilience.
“Being an immigrant myself, I understand the stress immigrants in a foreign country can experience,” said study author Abha Rai, an assistant professor and associate director at Center for Immigrant and Refugee at Loyola University Chicago.
“Immigrants are more vulnerable than non-immigrants, given challenges around limited employment options, work visas, lack of knowledge of US laws and policies, therefore, conducting research on this topic made sense. Furthermore, there is limited evidence on this topic, so this paper can uniquely contribute to highlighting evidence on an important yet understudied topic.”
The researchers analyzed immigrant perceptions and well-being using two datasets, one from the Trump administration period (April–June 2021) with 490 participants and another from the Biden administration period (October–November 2022) with 306 participants. Both groups were surveyed using the Qualtrics platform, with modifications in wording to specify the administration being evaluated.
The sample included 48% male and 52% female participants, with an even split between first and second-generation immigrants. The countries of origin targeted were predominantly from Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and East Asia, with additional participants from the Middle East.
The researchers employed several validated scales to measure the constructs of interest. Stress related to the administrations was measured using the modified Perceived Stress Scale, which included questions tailored to reflect stressors from specific presidential policies. Discrimination experiences were assessed using the adapted Everyday Discrimination Scale. Resilience was measured using the Brief Resilience Scale, and border-related stress was evaluated with the modified Border Community and Immigration Stress Scale.
Under the Trump administration, non-White immigrants experienced notably higher levels of stress and discrimination compared to their White counterparts. This disparity was statistically significant, highlighting the particular challenges faced by these groups during Trump’s term.
Under the Biden administration, on the other hand, these differences were not statistically significant, indicating a possible reduction in stress and discrimination experiences among non-White immigrants. This change could be attributed to the Biden administration’s reversal of several Trump-era policies and a generally more inclusive approach to immigration. However, several controversial immigration policies and visa/green card delays still persist.
The researchers also uncovered interesting patterns in resilience among immigrant groups. During the Trump era, White participants reported higher levels of resilience compared to non-White groups. This finding implies that White immigrants might have been less affected by the stressors that disproportionately impacted racial minorities, possibly due to less direct targeting by Trump’s exclusionary policies and rhetoric.
However, under the Biden administration, resilience levels did not significantly differ by race, suggesting a more uniform experience of resilience across different racial groups during his presidency.
The researchers also observed gender differences. Under the Trump administration, men reported higher levels of discrimination and border stress than women. This could reflect the gender-specific impacts of Trump’s immigration policies, which may have posed distinct challenges for male immigrants, such as increased scrutiny and enforcement actions. However, these gender differences were not evident under the Biden administration.
“In our study, we saw that political administration and leadership can impact stress among immigrants,” Rai told PsyPost. “This stress varied by racial groups, pointing to low stress experienced by those who identified as White in the study. Stress experiences also differed by gender, pointing to men experiencing more stress compared to women.”
“These findings are particularly concerning because immigrants comprise about 15% of the US population. Hence, it is imperative for service providers to work closely with immigrants to provide them with timely resources and for policy advocates to propose more equitable and welcoming policies for immigrants- especially those around work visas and green cards.”
But as with any study, the research includes limitations. The study’s sample may not be fully representative of the U.S. immigrant population. All responses were in English, which excludes non-English speakers’ experiences.
“Several questions around immigrant integration and well-being still need to be answered,” Rai said. “In the future, it would be helpful to gather primary data with providers serving immigrants as well as engage with policy advocates to learn more about their perspective on the topic.”
“I would like to thank all my co-authors on this paper who supported me in developing it and my co-lead who helped me collect this data, Dr. Mary Lehman Held from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville,” she added.
The study, “Stress Among Immigrants in the United States,” was authored by Abha Rai, Mary Lehman Held, Emmalee Osborne, and Ishita Kapur.
