Undocumented immigrants struggle when they need to access medical care. “Undocumented immigrants don’t have access to insurance; they can’t buy insurance through the marketplace,” says Mayra Casas Jackson, Executive Director of the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center (IRLC). They are not eligible for Medicaid either. That means they must pay out of pocket for every…
When immigrants move to a new country, they tend to settle in a neighborhood where immigrants from their country of origin have already built a community. Think about the various Chinatowns and Little Italy neighborhoods in many American cities. Chicago’s neighborhoods represent some good examples. Pilsen originally was home to Czech immigrants; Andersonville provided a…
Did you know that having a playground in your neighborhood could affect the health of people who live there? The amount of education you receive? Whether you have a strong community who will support you if you need help? The social drivers of health (SDoH) are factors that affect health. The five SDoH domains are…
How does immigration status affect one’s ability to access healthcare in the United States? The answer depends on many factors, including whether that person has documentation to show she is legally in the country, how long the person has been in the U.S., and in what state that person is seeking care. The federal government…
Reine Kukwikila came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her first job upon arriving was at the airport, where she washed dishes. Over time she has become a Community Health Worker (CHW) and supports people throughout southwest Ohio, many of whom are themselves immigrants. Kukwikila knows first-hand the challenges they face. …
In 2021, Kelsi Sievering was part of the team that opened a Kentucky Refugee Ministries (KRM) office in Covington. The organization had long had a presence in Lexington and in Louisville, where it opened its first office in 1990. As its name suggests, KRM works with people who have been forced to leave their country…
We are just three months out from the presidential election, and immigration policy remains a topic of great interest to voters nationwide. Fifty-seven percent of Americans believed dealing with immigration should have been a top policy priority for the current president and Congress this year, according to a Pew Research Center analysis from March. In…
This summer, news outlets have reported on an influx of Mauritanian refugees to Cincinnati, specifically to the neighborhoods Lockland and Mt. Airy. Recent media attention has focused on asylum seekers from this West African country, but we are in the midst of a broader immigration boom as people from around the world settle in the…
Headlines are filled with news about immigration. We learn of contentious debates about the U.S. and Mexico border. We read about travesties in Congo, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine and Gaza, and the desperate conditions that force people to flee their homelands and seek peaceful lives elsewhere. Too often these stories feel like something happening elsewhere, in…
“Everyone has problems at work,” says Brennan Grayson, Director, Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center (CIWC). Those problems might be small or big—a conflict with a coworker or being passed over for a promotion because of racial discrimination, as examples. “But when you’re an immigrant, work issues can be vastly complicated. Do you and your boss speak…
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