Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California

Undocumented immigrants experienced high levels of economic insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic while being excluded from government-based relief and unemployment benefits. In April 2020, California became the first state to offer financial aid to undocumented immigrants through the innovative D...

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Main Authors: Irving C. Ling, Hye Young Choi, May Sudhinaraset
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1304704/full
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author Irving C. Ling
Hye Young Choi
May Sudhinaraset
author_facet Irving C. Ling
Hye Young Choi
May Sudhinaraset
author_sort Irving C. Ling
collection DOAJ
description Undocumented immigrants experienced high levels of economic insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic while being excluded from government-based relief and unemployment benefits. In April 2020, California became the first state to offer financial aid to undocumented immigrants through the innovative Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program in collaboration with several community-based organizations (CBOs). However, the process of applying for aid was marked by many implementation challenges, such as intake and language access; however, little data exists on the direct experiences of the undocumented community. This qualitative study examines the experiences of undocumented Asian and Latinx young adults living in California in applying for DRAI through framework of administrative burden. Themes distilled from participant experiences highlight how administrative burden via learning, psychological, and compliance costs shape the ways in which undocumented immigrants navigate policies and programs, such as DRAI. These experiences highlight the need for policymakers to address structural and programmatic administrative burdens in policy development; failure to do so result in detrimental impacts that outweigh financial benefits or cause communities to forgo needed resources.
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spelling doaj.art-a2adfcb2f6134418b037ecd7af3347282024-02-15T10:03:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652024-02-011210.3389/fpubh.2024.13047041304704Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in CaliforniaIrving C. Ling0Hye Young Choi1May Sudhinaraset2Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesSchool of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United StatesFielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesUndocumented immigrants experienced high levels of economic insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic while being excluded from government-based relief and unemployment benefits. In April 2020, California became the first state to offer financial aid to undocumented immigrants through the innovative Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program in collaboration with several community-based organizations (CBOs). However, the process of applying for aid was marked by many implementation challenges, such as intake and language access; however, little data exists on the direct experiences of the undocumented community. This qualitative study examines the experiences of undocumented Asian and Latinx young adults living in California in applying for DRAI through framework of administrative burden. Themes distilled from participant experiences highlight how administrative burden via learning, psychological, and compliance costs shape the ways in which undocumented immigrants navigate policies and programs, such as DRAI. These experiences highlight the need for policymakers to address structural and programmatic administrative burdens in policy development; failure to do so result in detrimental impacts that outweigh financial benefits or cause communities to forgo needed resources.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1304704/fulladministrative burdenDACAmixed status familiesundocumented Asian immigrationundocumented Latina/o immigrationCOVID-19 relief
spellingShingle Irving C. Ling
Hye Young Choi
May Sudhinaraset
Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California
Frontiers in Public Health
administrative burden
DACA
mixed status families
undocumented Asian immigration
undocumented Latina/o immigration
COVID-19 relief
title Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California
title_full Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California
title_fullStr Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California
title_full_unstemmed Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California
title_short Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California
title_sort navigating a climate of administrative burden the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for covid 19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in california
topic administrative burden
DACA
mixed status families
undocumented Asian immigration
undocumented Latina/o immigration
COVID-19 relief
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1304704/full
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