In late 2019, COVID-19, a new disease caused by a novel (or new) coronavirus began to take over the lives of many people. This study centers on how members of the Latinx community have been affected by COVID-19. Both quantitative and qualitative data were utilized to analyze the perceived risk of infection, preventative behaviors, and acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine for individuals that identify as Latinx. Analysis of the survey and interview analysis found the majority of participants expressed abiding by recommended measures and becoming hypervigilant about their activities, and their desire to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when they are eligible. Individuals who did not express the desire to be vaccinated mentioned worries including side effects, costs, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine. Results from this research could aid in the creation of public health initiatives in order to increase the uptake of the vaccine tailored for the Latinx community.

The Trump administration has paid increased attention to immigration enforcement and deportations. The climate in today’s country has caused a large increase in fear, stress, and overall uneasiness among immigrants, because of these enforcements and deportations. This is something that becomes a complex challenge for many as the uneasiness regarding enforcements and deportations leads to negative health issues overall. Since the rise of immigration raids, detentions and investigations, there has not been a strong focus by state or federal officials, on how Latin American immigrants, specifically Mexican immigrants, are racially profiled regarding their citizenship and overall immigration status. Officials such as these need to address this issue due to the effects it is having on an individual’s mental health and their concern needs to be focused on making everyone in this country feel safe and included, for a more united and productive country. What also needs to be investigated by leaders and federal officials of this country is the effect of worry and concern about deportations on individuals, which may lead to poor mental health, including anxiety and depression. This thesis uses racial profiling and stress theory to examine how being viewed as undocumented affects the mental health of foreign-born Mexicans. Using an innovative survey funded by the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (n=517), Latino adults mostly consisting of first generation immigrants, in this study have been questioned about being worried about deportation, their self-reported physical and mental health, as well as various self-reported indicators of stress. These respondents were also asked how accurately they think non-Hispanic/Latino people can guess their immigration status. A series of logistic regressions were conducted to understand how others view of respondent’s immigration status being correctly profiled, and whether these results affect if they worry about being deported. Mediation analysis is used to explain how the stress of deportation influences physical and mental health outcomes. The preliminary findings suggest that the more accurately respondents believe non-Latinos can guess their immigration status the higher likelihood of reporting poor physical and mental health, thus affecting them in their daily lives.

My central hypothesis is that macroaggressions and microaggressions seem to be prevalent as the outcome of immigration policies and some may be regarded as macroaggressions themselves. Utilizing established research from 1991 to the present, it is highly probable that even though there were a plethora of immigration laws prior to 2001, the terrorist attack on September 11, 2002 initiated even more severe measures that resulted in immigrant populations suffering numerous aggressions as a consequence to the present. My research has uncovered three central themes from the literature on the social determinants of health which were used to outline the differences in effects that the immigrant related macroaggressions and microaggressions have on Mexican-origin and Latino youth and adults. In order to properly determine how to consider possible interventions, there must be an understanding of their impacts on the social and community context, mental health and health care issues that arise, and finally, impacts on education and the lived environment of this vulnerable population.