Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

To be effective, providers of human services must be knowledgeable about immigration policy. This study aims to (a) assess the accuracy of human service administrators’ knowledge about state immigration policy and (b) identify individual and organizational characteristics associated with immigration policy knowledge. The study focuses on Alabama, which implemented a highly restrictive state immigration law in 2011. A survey of a probability sample of human service administrators found that many administrators thought that state immigration policy was even more restrictive—of both immigrants and those who help them—than it actually was. Consistent with theory, administrators with more favorable attitudes toward immigrants and stronger perceptions of community support for immigrant services were more knowledgeable about the law's specific restrictions.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Immigration Council. (2014). How the United States immigration system works: A fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/how-united-statesimmigration-system-works-fact-sheet.

Androff

D. K.

, Ayon

, Becerra

, Gurrola

, Salas

, Krysik

, … Segal

(2011). U.S. immigration policy and immigrant children's well-being: The impact of policy shifts. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 38(1), 77–98.

Ayon

(2009). Shorter time-lines, yet higher hurdles: Mexican families’ access to child welfare mandated services. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(6), 609–616.

Ayon

(2014). Service needs among Latino immigrant families: Implications for social work practice. Social Work, 59(1), 13–23.

Barnes

(2012, June 25). Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona law for now, strikes down other provisions. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-rules-on-arizona-immigration-law/2012/06/25/gJQA0Nrm1V_story.html.

Beadle

A. P.

(2012, February 8). U.S.-born children denied food stamps under Alabama's immigration law. ThinkProgress. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/02/08/420526/us-born-children-denied-foodstamps-under-alabama-immigration-law/.

Beck

K. A.

, Ogloff

J. R. P.

, & Corbishley

(1994). Knowledge, compliance, and attitudes of teachers toward mandatory child abuse reporting in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Education, 19(1), 15–29.

Brown

, & Lopez

M. H.

(2013). Mapping the Latino population by state, county and city. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project.

Camarota

S. A.

(2011, October). A record-setting decade of immigration: 2000–2010. Backgrounder. Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies.

10.

DiMaggio

P. J.

, & Powell

W. W.

(1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160.

11.

Dodge

L. E.

, Haider

, & Hacker

M. R.

(2012). Knowledge of state-level abortion laws and policies among front-line staff at facilities providing abortion services. Women's Health Issues, 22(5), e415–e420.

12.

Dodge

L. E.

, Haider

, & Hacker

M. R.

(2013). Knowledge of statelevel abortion laws and regulations among reproductive health care providers. Women's Health Issues, 23(5), e281–e286.

13.

Elliott

(2011, June 11). Alabama's harsh new immigration law explained. Salon. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2011/06/11/alabama_immigration_law/.

14.

Faulk

(2011, December 13). Alabama immigration law has denied some their basic human rights, report says. The Birmingham News. Retrieved from: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/12/alabama_immigration_law_has_de.html.

15.

Furman

, Negi

, & Ciseros-Howard

L. M.

(2008). The immigration debate: Lessons for social workers. Social Work, 53(3), 283–285.

16.

Furman

, Langer

C. L.

, Sanchez

T. W.

, & Negi

N. J.

(2007). A qualitative study of immigration policy and practice dilemmas for social work students. Journal of Social Work Education, 43(1), 143–146.

17.

Gomez

(2012, February 20). In wake of immigration law some migrants return to Alabama. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-21/alabama-immigration-hispanic/53180746/1.

18.

Hardigan

P. C.

, Succar

C. T.

, & Fleisher

J. M.

(2012). An analysis of response rate and economic costs between mail and web-based surveys among participating dentists: A randomized trial. Journal of Community Health, 37(2), 383–394.

19.

Hargrove

(2006). Social work practice with Mexican clients: Service provision with illegal entrants to the United States. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 6(2/3), 61–76.

20.

Hoefer

, Rytina

, & Baker

B. C.

(2011). Estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States: January 2010. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Studies.

21.

Jervis

, & Gomez

(2011, October 19). Fear in Alabama towns over tough immigration law. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-18/immigrants-leave-alabama-town-over-immigrationlaw/50819276/1.

22.

Jones

(2012). Working with immigrant clients: Perils and possibilities for social workers. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 93(1), 47–53. doi:10.1606/1044-3894.4183

23.

Lawson

(2013, November 25). Much of Alabama's far-reaching immigration law permanently blocked in final settlement of lawsuits. The Birmingham News. Retrieved from http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/11/final_settlement_reached_block.html.

24.

Manfreda

K. L.

, Bosnjak

, Berzelak

, Haas

, & Vehovar

(2008). Web surveys versus other survey modes: A meta-analysis comparing response rates. International Journal of Market Research, 50(1), 79–104.

25.

Martinez-Brawley

E. E.

, & Zorita, P. M-B. (2011a). Immigration and social work: Contrasting practice and education. Social Work Education, 30(1), 17–28.

26.

Martinez-Brawley

E. E.

, & Zorita, P. M-B. (2011b). Immigration and human services: The perils of professionalization. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 92, 133–137. doi:10.1606/1044-3894.4094

27.

Motel

, & Patten

(2013). Statistical portrait of the foreign-born population in the United States, 2011. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

28.

National Association of Social Workers (NASW). (2008). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from: https://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp.

29.

National Council on State Legislators (NCSL). (2011). 2011 immigration-related laws and resolutions in the states (Jan. 1– Dec. 7, 2011) [Immigrant Policy Project]. Washington, DC: Author.

30.

National Council on State Legislators (NCSL). (2014). 2013 immigration report. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/2013-immigration-report.aspx.

31.

Padilla

Y. C.

, Shapiro

E. R.

, Fernandez-Castro

M. D.

, & Faulkner

(2008). Our nation's immigrants in peril: An urgent call to social workers. Social Work, 53(1), 5–8.

32.

Park

L. S. H.

, Sarnoff

, Bender

, & Korenbrot

(2000). Impact of recent welfare and immigration reforms on use of Medicaid for prenatal care by immigrants in California. Journal of Immigrant Health, 2(1), 5–22.

33.

Park

, Bhuyan

, Richards

, & Rundle

(2011). U.S. social work practitioners’ attitudes towards immigrants and immigration: Results from an online survey. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 9(4), 367–392.

34.

Park

, & Bhuyan

(2012). Whom should we serve? A discourse analysis of social workers’ commentary on undocumented immigrants. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 23(1), 18–40.

35.

Passel

J. S.

, & Cohn

(2009). A portrait of unauthorized immigrants in the United States. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

36.

Passel

J. S.

, & Cohn

(2011). Unauthorized immigrant population: National and state trends, 2010. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2014/11/18/unauthorized-immigrant-totals-rise-in-7-states-fall-in-14/.

37.

Passel

J. S.

, & Cohn

(2014). Unauthorized immigrant totals rise in 7 states, fall in 14. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2014/11/18/unauthorized-immigrant-totals-rise-in-7-states-fall-in-14/.

38.

Passel

J. S.

, Cohn

, & Gonzalez-Barrera

(2013). Population decline of unauthorized immigrants stalls, may have reversed. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

39.

Passel

J. S.

, & Taylor

(2010). Unauthorized immigrants and their U.S.-born children. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

40.

Pilkington

(2011, October 11). Alabama parents prepare for the worst: Separation from their kids. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/11/alabama-immigration-children-power-of-attorney.

41.

Rocke

D. J.

, Thomas

, Puscas

, & Lee

W. T.

(2014). Physician knowledge of and attitudes toward the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, 150(2), 229–234.

42.

Sarlin

(2013, December 16). How America's harshest immigration law failed. MSNBC. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/undocumented-workers-immigration-alabama.

43.

Scott

W. R.

(2001). Institutions and organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

44.

Shear

M. D.

(2014, November 20). Obama, defying Congress, acts to overhaul immigration. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/us/obama-immigration-speech.html.

45.

Southern Poverty Law Center. (2012). Alabama's shame: HB56 and the war on immigrants. Montgomery, AL: Author.

46.

Taylor

, Lopez

M. H.

, Passel

J. S.

, & Motel

(2011). Unauthorized immigrants: Length of residency, patterns of parenthood. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

47.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). The foreign-born population in the United States: 2010. American Community Survey Reports (ACS-19). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf.

48.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2011). Yearbook of immigration statistics: 2010. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics.

49.

Walsh

, Matthews

, Rassafiani

, Farrell

, & Butler

(2013). Elementary teachers’ knowledge of legislative and policy duties for reporting child sexual abuse. The Elementary School Journal, 114(2), 178–199.

Human Service Administrators’ Knowledge about Immigration Policy: Associations with Attitudes,Political Ideology,and Organizational Practices

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References