Edward D. Vargas

Taking a Closer Look at Group Identity The Link between Theory and Measurement of Group Consciousness and Linked Fate

Scholarship in the area of group identity has expanded our understanding of how group consciousness and linked fate operate among racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. What is yet to be tested is whether the measures employed adequately capture the multidimensional theoretical constructs associated with group consciousness across racial and ethnic populations. To address this question, we make use of the 2004 National Political Study (N = 3,339) and apply principal components analysis and exploratory factor analysis to assess whether measures used for both group consciousness and linked fate are interchangeable, as well as whether these measures are directly comparable across racial and ethnic populations. We find that the multidimensional approach to measuring group consciousness is a sound strategy when applied to African Americans, as the dimensions fit the African American experience more powerfully than is the case for non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and Asian populations. Our analysis suggests that scholars interested in exploring group identity among the African American population have fewer analytical concerns in this regard than those working with other populations where the underlying components associated with group consciousness appear to be operating differently.

Latina/o or Mexicana/o? The Relationship between Socially Assigned Race and Experiences with Discrimination

Discrimination based on one’s racial or ethnic background is one of the oldest and most perverse practices in the United States. Although much research has relied on self-reported racial categories, a growing body of research is designed to measure race through socially assigned race. Socially assigned or ascribed race measures how individuals feel they are classified by other people. In this study, the authors draw on the socially assigned race literature and explore the impact of socially assigned race on experiences with discrimination using a 2011 nationally representative sample of Latina/os (n = 1,200). Although much of the current research on Latina/os has been focused on aggregation across national-origin group members, this study marks a deviation in the use of socially assigned race and national origin to understand how being ascribed as Mexican is associated with experiences of discrimination. The authors find evidence that being ascribed as Mexican increases the likelihood of experiencing discrimination relative to being ascribed as White or Latina/o. Furthermore, the authors find that being misclassified as Mexican (ascribed as Mexican but not of Mexican origin) is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing discrimination compared with being ascribed as White, ascribed as Latina/o, and correctly ascribed as Mexican. The authors provide evidence that socially assigned race is a valuable complement to self-identified race/ethnicity for scholars interested in assessing the impact of race/ethnicity on a wide range of outcomes.

Immigration Policies and Group Identity: How Immigrant Laws Affect Linked Fate among U.S. Latino Populations

Immigrant sentiment, measured by the number of state laws enacted to curb the flow of undocumented immigration or expand rights to immigrants, have been on a steady incline since September 11, 2001. Despite the increased attention to unauthorized immigration, little research has examined how immigrant policies are affecting group identity (i.e., linked fate). Linked fate is a form of collective group identity that develops when a group of people experience discrimination and marginalization. Using a unique database that merges the 2012 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (n = 934 Latinos) with the sum of state-level immigration policies enacted from 2005 to 2012, this study is the first to examine the direct relationship between immigrant climate and linked fate. Results from our multinomial logistic regressions indicate that the linked fate among Latinos increases as the number of punitive immigration laws in a state increases, controlling for a vector of control variables. Consistent with our theory regarding differential impact, our findings also suggest that immigration Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Edward D. Vargas, Center for Women’s Health and Health Disparities Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 310 N. Midvale Blvd, Suite 201, 1180 Observatory Drive, RM 3467, Madison, WI 53705. E-mail: edward.vargas@gmail.com Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics, 2 (2017), 35–62.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place: The relationship between Latino/a’s personal connections to immigrants and issue salience and presidential approval

The Obama administration has simultaneously marketed the prospect of providing undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship through comprehensive immigration reform and overseen mass deportations of mostly Latino immigrants. While it is clear that immigration policy was highly influential to Latino voters in 2012, it remains unclear how this political hypocrisy is being interpreted by Latino voters. As deportations have risen steadily during the Obama administration, there has been little research on how deportations and personal connections to undocumented immigrants have influenced the political attitudes of the Latino/a electorate. Using a nationally representative survey of 800 registered Latino/a voters administered in 2013, we explore the relationships between personal connections to undocumented immigrants and issue salience among Latinos as well as Latinos’ views of President Obama. This study finds that registered Latino voters who know deportees and undocumented immigrants are more likely to report that they think the President and Congress should act on immigration policy versus all other policies. Moreover, Latino voters who know someone who is undocumented are less likely to have favorable views toward President Obama. This study has implications for our collective knowledge of how direct and indirect connections to policy outcomes influence the political behavior of the highly influential Latino/a electorate and how political and policy outcomes will be influenced in the future when a much higher proportion of the electorate have such connections.

Nativity and citizenship status affect Latinos’ health insurance coverage under the ACA

ABSTRACT The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to increase health insurance access for the over 47 million uninsured people in the U.S.A., among whom ethnoracial minorities had the highest uninsured rates before the ACA. Studies have shown that Latinos have had the greatest improvements in health coverage under the ACA, but many may be at a significant disadvantage, specifically due to their nativity and immigration status, as the ACA explicitly excludes unauthorised immigrants from most of its provisions. Using the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey, a nationally representative sample of Latinos (n = 1493), we find that variation in health insurance access among Latinos can be traced to immigration status. This study finds no differences among U.S.-born versus foreign-born Latinos in the likelihood of being uninsured in 2015. However, among foreign-born Latinos, unauthorised immigrants are five times more likely than naturalised citizens to be uninsured and less likely to visit a primary care provider or clinic, even after controlling for other factors including language, income and education.

Civic engagement and political participation among American Indians and Alaska natives in the US

ABSTRACT Within the growing literature seeking to understand civic and political engagement among racial and ethnic minorities, our understanding of political behavior among American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) remains limited. We use the Current Population Survey Civic Engagement and Voting and Registration supplements (2006–2012) to compare AI/AN voter registration, voting, and overall civic engagement to other racial and ethnic groups and to assess whether factors that predict higher levels of civic engagement vary across these populations. We find a few key socioeconomic status indicators that predict civic and political engagement uniquely for AI/ANs, but they are not consistently significant across all years or all types of political participation. We find marital status, age, household size, education, and veteran status to be important in predicting civic engagement for AI/ANs. However, for voting and registration, we find that family income, age, marital status, household size, and residential stability to be important contributors. Although we find AI/ANs are less likely to register and vote compared to non-Hispanic whites, we find that the difference is not statistically significant in congressional years, which may suggest that AI/ANs are engaged in local politics and vote for representatives who will represent their tribal interests in national politics.