My research seeks to understand the impact of the US immigration system on the well-being of immigrants and their families. My studies and publications contribute to the growing evidence that immigrants who lack citizenship or legal status face unique barriers to health care and well-being and that immigration policy can create conditions that are harmful to health – or that promote and protect health. I focus on citizenship and policy as systems of inequality to advance knowledge in three areas:

(1) health inequities based on citizenship and legal status

(2) how health inequities are driven by variation in state and local policies

(3) the social, institutional, and behavioral mechanisms that link immigrant policy and health inequities.