Recipients of PSC Small Grant Awards
Immigration Enforcement and Racialized Exclusion in the Rural Midwest
Nicole Novak
Our previous work identified an increase in low birth weight infants born to Latina mothers after a major federal immigration raid in Postville, Iowa in 2008. We theorize that the raid exaggerated structurally rooted economic and psychosocial stressors for Latinos throughout the state, which has implications for population health disparities. I propose to use oral histories to build a richer understanding of the sociostructural determinants of health for immigrant and US-born Latinos in the rural Midwest. I will collect oral histories from individuals living in Latino communities at the time of the Postville raid to better understand the raid and its implications for racialization, stress and population health throughout the state of Iowa.
Funding source: The Brown Fund, 2017