Impact of the 2016 presidential election and restrictive immigration climate on the work and wellbeing of Bangladeshi immigrant community frontline workers in New York City, U.S.A

ABSTRACT

Community-based organizations (CBOs) are key players in mitigating the impact of restrictive policy changes on immigrant communities. The ability of these organizations to help diffuse the stress caused by restrictive, rapidly changing immigration policies depends, in part, on the capacity and health of their workforce. This study presents findings from a qualitative study conducted with 10 Bangladeshi community frontline workers working in various CBOs and advocacy organizations to understand their experience navigating a heightened anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim climate. Through thematic analyses, we inferred that the 2016 presidential election increased stress and mobilization among community frontline workers, with a meaningful distinction between participants working for immigration-focused institutions versus those in institutions where immigration issues were not the primary focus (e.g. health services, cultural programming). For those working in immigration-focused institutions, work burden increased due to challenges in managing misinformation, making sense of policy changes, and meeting the needs of families impacted by deportation. A toll on frontline workers’ own physical health and mental health was discussed, as well as the need for culturally congruent mental health supports for the South Asian community.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigration
• Asian American
• health and social services
• mental health
• stress
• racism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities [NIMHD] Grant # [U54MD000538].