• DOI:10.1177/1532440012454664
• Corpus ID: 156792877

Immigrant Social Policy in the American States

@article{Filindra2013ImmigrantSP,
  title={Immigrant Social Policy in the American States},
  author={Alexandra Filindra},
  journal={State Politics \& Policy Quarterly},
  year={2013},
  volume={13},
  pages={26 - 48}
}

• Alexandra Filindra
• Published 1 March 2013
• Economics
• State Politics & Policy Quarterly

This article examines differences in the drivers of state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid immigrant eligibility policies, determined in the wake of the 1996 Welfare Reform. The findings show that differences in the incentive structures of the two programs may affect the way race politics influence each. Specifically, race is a strong negative correlate for TANF inclusion of immigrants as states with large African American populations were more likely to exclude legal permanent residents from the program. In the case of Medicaid, the size of the immigrant population is a strong positive correlate for inclusion. The effect of the size of the black population, although negative, is small and not significant. The study confirms extant research findings that ideological factors play an important role in the formation of both policies.