A MULTIDISCIPLINARY BINATIONAL STUDY OF MIGRANT WOMEN IN THE CONTEXT OF A U.S.

MEXICO BORDER REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE CONTINUUM

______________

Estudio Binacional de Mujeres Inmigrantes en la Frontera Mxico-Estados Unidos:

Integracin Social y el Continuo de Salud Reproductiva

Final Report
Submitted to:
Programa de Investigacin de Migracin y Salud (PIMSA)
Research Conducted Collaboratively by:
Anna Ochoa OLeary Ph.D. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Ph.D. El Colegio De Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mxico

December 2009

Final Report
A Multidisciplinary Binational Study of Migrant Women in the Context of a U.S. Mexico Border
Reproductive Health Care Continuum
______________
Estudio Binacional de Mujeres Inmigrantes en la Frontera Mxico-Estados Unidos: Integracin
Social y el Continuo de Salud Reproductiva

Co-Authors:
Anna Ochoa OLeary Ph.D. (Co-Principal Investigator)
Binational Migration Institute/Dept. of Mexican American and Raza Studies
Csar E. Chavez Bldg.
University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ, USA 85721
Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Ph.D.
El Colegio De Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mxico (Co-Principal Investigator)
Ave. Obregn #54, Col. Centro
Hermosillo, Sonora, Mxico 83000
Submitted to:
Programa de Investigacin de Migracin y Salud (PIMSA)
HEALTH INITIATIVE OF THE AMERICAS 1950 Addison Street, Suite 203
UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Berkeley, California 94704
Grant #GHN08W
Start Date: February 25, 2008
End Date: December 31, 2009

Anna Ochoa OLeary

Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea
Photography: Las fotos que aparecen en este reporte, incluyendo la portada, pertenencen al
banco de datos del Seminario Niez Migrante: www.seminarionm.blogspot.com. Fotos por:
Marybel Gutirrez y Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, sta ltima coordinadora del seminario.
Binational
Migration
Institute
BMI

Report Contents
Executive Summary..................................................................................................................................... 1
Theoretical Development ........................................................................................................................... 2
The Reproductive Health Care Continuum .......................................................................................... 2
Altar, Sonora: La antesala de espera ....................................................................................................... 2
Methods ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Altar, Sonora ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Tucson, Arizona....................................................................................................................................... 4
Resultant samples and subsamples: Altar ............................................................................................... 4
Resultant samples and subsamples: Tucson ......................................................................................... 11
Methodological Considerations and Limitations ....................................................................................... 16
Limitations in Ascertaining Immigration status Amidst a Climate of Fear ......................................... 16
Community Partnerships .................................................................................................................. 17
Generalizability ................................................................................................................................. 17
Future Directions: ................................................................................................................................. 18
Student Support ........................................................................................................................................ 19
Student Researchers: ............................................................................................................................ 19
Scholarly Presentations............................................................................................................................. 20
Presentations ........................................................................................................................................ 20
Scholarly Papers in Development for publication ................................................................................. 22
Public Policy Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 22
Altar Sonora: ..................................................................................................................................... 22
Tucson, Arizona................................................................................................................................. 22
Principal Investigators ............................................................................................................................... 23
Works Cited .............................................................................................................................................. 24

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project was funded by a grant from the Programa de Investigacin de Migracin y Salud (PIMSA) to
the University of Arizona and El Colegio de Sonora, for which we are most appreciative. The Principal
Investigators and authors of this report are Anna Ochoa OLeary (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ) and
Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea (El Colegio De Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mxico), who also wish to
acknowledge the efforts of many who helped assure that this research project was successfully
completed.
The authors are grateful for the support given by their institutions, the University of Arizona and El
Colegio de Sonora, especially to administrative staff within our departments within those institutions
who provided research team members with invaluable assistance in complying with the financial
management of the grant.
The authors would also like to express their gratitude to their research assistants (mentioned on page
19): students at our institutions who managed to negotiate overlapping commitments to studying and
learning with those particular to the projects goals and objectives. Without their dedication, this
project would not have been possible.
It would be negligent on our part not to recognize the help and contribution of our community partners
in the places where our work was carried out. In Altar, we are grateful to the migrant shelter managers
of The Centro Comunitario de Atencion al Migrante y Necesitado (CCAMYN) and the owners of the
numerous Casas de Husped, where migrant women were interviewed. In Tucson, we are most
appreciative for the support and assistance given by the Mexican Consulates Office, Sr. Consul Juan
Manuel Caldern Jaimes, and dedicated staff members Claisalia Robertson and Alma Castel de Oro. We
are equally grateful to Dr. Arturo Martinez of El Rio Community Health Center for his cooperation. We
are especially indebted to El Rios community health workers Josefina Medraza and Salvador Barraza,
who, in view of the political climate spurred by recent anti-immigrant rhetoric, were fundamentally
essential to the successful recruitment of respondents in Tucson. The extent of their contribution to the
successful completion of the project is immeasurable.
Finally, this study would not have been possible with the generous participation of the women in Altar
and Tucson who welcomed interviewers and who willingly shared their personal information and details
about their lives in was is arguably inhospitable environments. The authors extend their most heartfelt
thanks to the 80 women in Tucson and the 87 women in Altar who took time away from their busy
schedules to speak with us about their lives and hardships. All of them trusted the reach team enough
to give up some of their valuable time and energy to enrich our data. They too shared our hope that the
findings of this study will contribute to a future improvement in their lives and that of future
generations, and ultimately enhance the quality of life of all those who find their way to U.S. Mexico
borderlands.

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A MULTIDISCIPLINARY BINATIONAL STUDY OF MIGRANT WOMEN IN THE CONTEXT OF A U.S.MEXICO BORDER REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE CONTINUUM
______________
Estudio Binacional de Mujeres Inmigrantes en la Frontera Mxico-Estados Unidos:
Integracin Social y el Continuo de Salud Reproductiva

Final Narrative Report

Executive Summary
This binational research project was designed to analyze the reproductive health care strategies of
migrant women. Funding was awarded in the Spring of 2008, and the study was completed in the Fall of
2009. Binational teams of investigators and student assistants from the Colegio de Sonora (COLSON)1
and from the Binational Migration Institute (BMI),2 at the University of Arizona shared responsibility for
gathering and analyzing data. The Sonoran component of the project conducted research in Altar,
Sonora, and the U.S. component conducted research in Tucson, Arizona. Both research teams on each
side of the border used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine the
reproductive health care strategies of migrant women who are increasingly active participants in
transnational movement. These strategies were studied in light of some of the structural determinants
of risk for women due to the increased exposure to various types of risks associated with migration
including the risk of death (OLeary 2008, 2009a) and sexual assault (Falcon 2001), and the risks posed
when access to health care services and resources in settlement communities are limited or denied. The
research leveraged work in Sonora by Valdz-Gardea (2007), who has documented the emergent
concentration of migrants in Altar, Sonora, 120 miles south of the U.S. Mexico border, and the strain on
services for migrants that this major staging area for the journey north has produced. North of the
border and along the south-north migrant corridor, in Tucson, Arizona, there has been a curtailment of
supportive serviceslargely driven by a highly politicized anti-immigrant sentiment and the
implementation of anti-immigrant legislation like Proposition 200 in 2004, which requires that state and
local governments verify the legal status of all applicants for certain state and local public benefits
(Ferreira-Pinto, 2005; OLeary 2009b, see also Wilson, 2008). As such, a theoretical concept, the
reproductive health care continuum, was developed for the research. The continuum consists of
im/migrant womens repertoire of reproductive health care strategies and the associated knowledge
that women draw upon in the context of their plans to migrate northward. The continuum is
hypothesized as developing continually, beginning with plans to migrate and evolving in response to
resource scarcity, social hostilities, and/or restrictive policies (Wilson & McQuiston, 2006). This
binational approach is also consistent with Hannerzs (1998) suggestion for organizing transnational
research, where, instead of the conventional community study of migrants at the end or beginning of
their migration journey, migrants are viewed as somewhere in between. The analysis of migrant
womens choices illustrate how their access to reproductive health care services is problematized in a
range of ways by broader contradictory trends inherent in the transnational movement of labor and
families, serving to inform policy makers agencies about reproductive health care practices and needs
on both sides of the border.

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Theoretical Development
The Reproductive Health Care Continuum
The concept of a reproductive health care continuum was developed for the research. The
reproductive health care continuum consists of the repertoire of strategies, epistemologies, and
practices adopted by women that begin with plans to migrate northward and evolves in the context of
their settlement in the U.S. Three areas of reproductive health have been singled out as the most
catastrophic for women whose reproductive health is compromised by migration and settlement in
communities where their choices, resources or support are restricted or denied. The first area involves
pregnancy (including prevention, counseling, termination, and prenatal care). The second involves
sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/AIDs, detection, prevention, and treatment). The third
involves post-partum care and the risks posed to mothers and children by conditions such as
malnutrition, anemia, infection, or depression. In developing this concept, both binational teams
employed a mixed methods approach.

Altar, Sonora: La antesala de espera

En este marco, en los ltimos aos el estado de Sonora se ha convertido en el principal punto de cruce
para la migracin internacional. No slo estamos hablando de los migrantes que llegan a las
comunidades fronterizas de Sonora con intencin de cruzar hacia los Estados Unidos, hablamos tambin
de la migracin de cientos de mexicanos originarios de los estados del sur del pas que ante la opcin de
trabajo que representa el noroeste de Mxico deciden migrar a las ciudades y comunidades de esta
regin.
La zona ms crtica se localiza al suroeste del estado de Arizona, misma que se caracteriza por una
mayor violencia y por un incremento en el nmero de paisanos fallecidos en el rea desrtica,
principalmente, en las rutas y zonas despobladas del corredor Naco-Douglas; Lukeville-Sonoyta; Puerta
de San Miguel, El Ssabe, Altar, La Ladrillera, Tinajas, El Bajo, lmites de la reservacin de los Tohono
OOdham y, recientemente por el municipio de Santa.
La zona ms crtica se localiza
al suroeste del estado de
Arizona, misma que se
caracteriza por una mayor
violencia y por un
incremento en el nmero de
paisanos fallecidos en el rea
desrtica, principalmente, en
las rutas y zonas despobladas
del corredor Naco-Douglas;
Lukeville-Sonoyta; Puerta de
San Miguel, El Ssabe, Altar,
La Ladrillera, Tinajas, El Bajo,
lmites de la reservacin de
los Tohono OOdham y,
recientemente por el
municipio de Santa Cruz
(Reporte del Programa de
Repatriacin Voluntaria, 2004).

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Lo anterior ha trado como consecuencia la movilizacin de personas, nios y adultos, a ciudades ms

esperanzadoras como las define Carrasco (2000) refirindose con ello a la poblacin que busca
formas precisas para ser absorbida y consumida en la ciudad, lo que provoca que la ciudad central y
lugar de recibimiento de migrantes sea desmitificada convirtiendo a la ciudad como un lugar que brinda
momentos esperanzadores adosados a las nuevas formas de construir y apropiarse de ella (Carrasco
2000, 3) tal es el caso de las ciudades fronterizas del norte de Mxico y Estados Unidos.

Methods
Altar, Sonora
Research Goals:
A. To assess the inequalities that
migration supposes for women and
whether or not migrant women are
facing a generalized discriminatory
public health situation due to
structural determinants (in both
Sonora and Arizona) that endangers
their health and safety, and
potentially that of their families.
Evidence of this would provide the
basis for seeking additional
funding.
B. To make a binational comparison of
existing initiatives and reproductive
health care and through this
develop guidelines and
recommendations that integrate
gendered perspectives for
improvement.
C.

To document case studies to

analyze the limitations and impact
of reproductive health programs
from a gendered perspective and
within binational social, economic
and political contexts,

Para este estudio, se utiliz rapid appraisal

techniques (RAT). Esta tcnica maximiza la calidad
de la informacin. RAT (Conway and McCracken
1990; Rhoades 1985) utiliza una metodologa
mixta que incluye una revisin de literatura
secundaria, seguida por visitas cortas de trabajo
de campo para identificar las variables
importantes y los segmentos de la poblacin que
requieren de estudio. Esta fase inicial es seguida
por trabajo de campo intensivo el cual se dirige
esos grupos escogidos utilizando una variedad de
tcnicas etnogrficas para recolectar datos tales
como la observacin participante, entrevistas a
profundidad, entrevistas focales y entrevistas
estructuradas. Esta combinacin de tcnicas
mejora la descripcin de fenmenos complejos
como lo es la migracin y la salud. Ello revela
importantes preguntas sobre cmo interactan
las variables para producir ciertos patrones que le
dan validez a la investigacin.
Se dise un cuestionario que fue aplicado a 66
mujeres con al menos 5 aos de residencia en
Altar. El instrument contaba con las siguientes
secciones:
Seccin A: La unidad de familia
Seccin B: Sobre la travesa
Seccin C: Sobre su estancia en la
localidad cercana al punto de cruce
Seccin D: Estado de Salud General

D. To disseminate good practices and

experiences in the area.

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Tucson, Arizona
In the Tucson, Arizona field site, the goal was to examine
two purposeful subsamples of im/migrant women to
appreciate the relationship between immigration status and
access to health care services in this settlement location.
The first subsample of immigrant women (C) were those
eligible for health services (n=40). The second subsample
(D) of 40 respondents were to be immigrant women whose
legal status (or that of someone in her care) might pose
problems for accessing health care. Similar to Altar, the
focus in Tucson was to use two purposeful subsamples of
immigrant women to appreciate changes in the continuum
as migrant women move northward. The questionnaire in
the Tucson survey instrument (which included open-ended
questions) was divided into the following sections:
Section A: The family unit
Section B: General health conditions
Section C: Pregnancy health care
Section D: Sexually transmitted diseases
Section E: Post-partum care

Subsamples C and D: Using a

combination of variables and texts, it was
determined with reasonable certainty
that 41 of the participants were
themselves, or had someone in their
family ineligible for medical coverage,
presumably due to immigration status.
Another 30 were identified as
documented, or, eligible for medical
care through publically-funded health
care programs. For nine of the
respondents, no determination could be
made using the answers given.

In addition, a semi-structured interview guide was used at

the end of the survey to allow interview to depart from the
basic questions to pursue interesting, unexpected, or new
information.

Resultant samples and subsamples: Altar

El objetivo fue combinar en el anlisis datos emanados de los cuestionarios con datos de corte subjetivo
de las entrevistas a profundidad. La idea era presentar las voces de las mujeres y sus percepciones en
cuanto a la percibida vulnerabilidad en el proceso migratorio, su estancia en Altar, el acceso a los
servicios de salud, entre otros temas, lo anterior con el fin de presentar algunas recomendaciones de
polticas pblicas en beneficio de este grupo.
Summary Statistics
Los datos de los 66 cuestionarios aplicados a mujeres muestran como esta regin representa una
alternativa para mejorar su calidad de vida. A continuacin presentamos (Fig. 1) los resultados cuando
se les pregunt sobre las razones para venirse a esta ciudad fronteriza:

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Figure 1

Resulta interesa observar las

diferentes respuestas que dieron Figure 2
las mujeres en la grfica de
arriba. La mayora de las
respuestas van encaminadas a
tener una mejor vida. Muy
pocas mujeres comentaron
abiertamente que el objetivo
principal era cruzar hacia Estados
Unidos, otras no contestaron. Sin
embargo, en la grfica, (Fig. 2),
mostramos los resultados ante la
pregunta de a qu ciudad en
Estados Unidos se dirige o diriga
cuando lleg a la comunidad lo
que muestra que en su mayora,
independientemente de las razones por las
que se decidieron quedarse a vivir posteriormente en la comunidad, llegaron a esta con la
intencin inicial de cruzar.
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Antecedentes
Desde los aos sesenta se ha incrementado el flujo
migratorio mexicano hacia Estados Unidos. Segn
datos del Consejo Nacional de Poblacin (CONAPO)
se ha calculado que el flujo de emigrantes entre 260
mil y 290 mil personas en la dcada de 1960-1970,
entre 1.20 y 1.55 millones de 1970-1980, entre 2.10
y 2.60 millones en el decenio 1980-1990 y poco ms
de tres millones de personas de 1990-2000. La
nuevas tendencias del fenmeno migratorio en
Mxico muestra una mayor participacin de
migrantes de origen urbano y de mujeres solteras o
casadas (Marcelli y Cornelius, 2001; Woo, 2003).
Segn la CONAPO, las pautas de migracin
Mujer migrante e hija inspeccionados en su camino a El
femenina se estn alejando del patrn tradicional
Ssabe.
de acompaamiento, puesto que 58 por ciento de
las trabajadoras migrantes en Estados Unidos son solteras (Fig. 3) y 42 por ciento enva dinero a sus
familiares ya que se encuentran en etapa de vida de mayor capacidad de trabajar y producir (Fig. 4). Es
decir, cada vez cobra importancia el grupo de mujeres que se mueven solas en el marco de una red de
apoyo femenina.
Perfil demogrfica de la Muestra de Altar
(66 cuestionarios)
Figure 4: EDAD

Figure 3: ESTADO

30
20
10
0

28

CIVIL

27
3

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

33

13

14
4

Una de las caractersticas importantes del fenmeno migratorio actual en nuestro pas es la
diversificacin de los corredores de migracin y la importancia que estn tomando en ste las ciudades
medianas y pequeas las cuales cumplen un rol trascendental para la migracin internacional, que se
caracteriza, entre otras cosas, por la presencia de actores antes no documentados pero siempre
presentes en el proceso, como las mujeres y los menores migrantes 3. Esto tiene que ver con la
instrumentacin de polticas migratorias estadounidenses desde finales de la dcada de los noventa las
cuales se han dedicado a vigilar con ms fuerza las zonas tradicionales de cruce, reorientando el trnsito
migratorio hacia regiones de alto riesgo como la zona fronteriza de Sonora-Arizona (Cornelius 2001,
Nevins 2002, Rubio-Goldsmith, McCormick, Martinez and Duarte 2006).

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El panorama anterior nos habla del rol activo de

la mujer en la migracin internacional. Este grupo
est integrado por mujeres de diversas clases
sociales y niveles de educacin que desafa el
estereotipo del actor migrante tradicional
(Valdz-Gardea, 2005). El aumento de la
9
migracin femenina est ligada por una parte, al
6
continuo empobrecimiento del campo en Mxico
4
4
4
(especialmente en reas del centro y en el sur del
3
2 2
3 3
2 2
pas como muestra la Figura 5), y a la falta de
1
1 1
creacin de empleos y carencia de oportunidades
de estudio para las mujeres y, en otros casos,
ligado a violencia domstica que sufren las
mujeres en sus lugares de origen. Las mujeres
entrevistadas a profundidad y a las que se les
aplic el cuestionario, expresaron sentirse
inseguras en la comunidad, algunas prefirieron no contestar como si sintieran que ello las delatara ante
algo, o alguien. Adems, se entrevistaron a profundidad a 21 mujeres en trnsito que haban llegado a la
comunidad con el propsito de cruzar hacia Estados Unidos (Cuadro 1).
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

19

Figura 5: ESTADO DE ORIGEN

Cuadro 1: Sitios en Altar en donde se reclutaron

a las entrevistadas y se realizaron las entrevistas
Sitio

No.
de entrevistadas

Casa de huspedes Lupita

Plaza
Casa de huspedes Javier

7
4

Otros: CCAMYN, Comedor El

Chiapaneco y Hotel Santa Ana
TOTAL

Local de venta de comida y artculos localizado

al lado de la plaza en Altar.

21

Fue el objetivo de la encuesta en Altar recabada informacin de dos distintas muestras de mujeres.
Dentro la muestra de 80, 40 estarn en trnsito (muestra A), y las otras 40 sern asentadas en la
comunidad en los ltimos 5 aos (muestra B). Se espera que de de esta segunda muestra, haya casos en
que mujeres hayan estado en trnsito en alguna vez. A continuacin mostramos una grfica basada en
los 66 cuestionarios sobre las experiencias de las mujeres que en ese momento se encontraban en Altar,
(Fig. 6), y informacin sobre sus estancias en torno al tiempo que permanecan en ese lugar (Fig. 7):

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Figure 6

Figure 7

Acceso de los Altarenses y Mujeres migrantes a los Servicios de Salud

Los paisanos adems de satisfacer sus necesidades alimenticias y de hospedaje, tambin se ven
necesitados de los servicios de salud, ante los cuales se ven en gran desventaja, ya que estos servicios se
concretan en una unidad mvil de la Cruz Roja, atendida por un solo paramdico, (que evidentemente
no es suficiente para la cantidad de migrantes que necesitan de los servicios), y en una clnica de la
Secretara de Salubridad y Asistencia. Se les pregunt a las mujeres encuestadas si contaban con algn
tipo de seguro mdico o servicio mdico y estas fueron sus respuestas (Fig. 8):

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Mdulo de la Cruz Roja para la Atencin al migrante

Existe tambin en la comunidad

ms de media docena de
Qualitative data
consultorios mdicos particulares,
como una clnica privada. El
Aas
goal
of the research was to
migrante,
que regularmente
also qualitatively
documentviaja
con recursos
econmicos
case
studies in
order to analyze
limitados,
tiene
pocoimpact
o nuloof
the limitations and
acceso a la prctica
reproductive
healthmdica
programs
privada.
Lo
anterior
origina la
from a gendered perspective
peligrosa
la social,
and
withinprctica
each ofdethe
automedicacin
por
parte
del
economic and political contexts
quien
recurre
inmigrante,
which they
take
place.al boom
Preliminary
farmacutico
content
en la comunidad,
analyses of
these
narratives
con ms
de mediaindicate
docena that
de
the
following
farmacias
ubicadas por todo Altar,
para comprar desde penicilina
para una infeccin de garganta,
hasta neomelubrina para la
temperatura1.

Las mujeres encuestadas hicieron ver en sus

respuestas que hacen uso de la infraestructura de
salud con la que cuenta la comunidad, son las
mujeres en trnsito las que expresan su mayor
vulnerabilidad ya que la mayora que
entrevistamos no cuentan con recursos
econmicos para consultar al mdico particular o
el tiempo suficiente para ir al centro de Salud o
Clnica del IMSS, por el tiempo que se requiere y el
protocolo administrativo. La solucin rpida para
ellas es ir al Mdulo de la Cruz Roja (Fig. 9) o auto
medicarse.

La escasez de servicios pblicos para atencin a la salud en Altar ocasiona que las mujeres migrantes se
sientan ms vulnerables ante las pocas posibilidades de recibir atencin mdica cuando lo necesitan o
de encontrar medicamentos en las farmacias de la localidad. Algunas de las mujeres entrevistadas a
profundidad comentaron que usan remedios caseros como opciones para aliviar algn malestar. Otras
comentaron su frustracin ante la carencia de medicamentos en la comunidad como comenta Mariana,
quien tuvo que cambiar de mtodo anticonceptivo que utilizaban en el lugar de origen, al mtodo del
ritmo por no encontrar las pastillas en Altar:
Yo me cuidaba con pastillas, pero las dej de tomar porque no encontr, porque hasta de eso
carece Altar, no haba de mi marca ni de ninguna, ahora tengo que andar contando.

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A continuacin presentamos las respuestas de las 66 mujeres encuestadas ante la pregunta de a donde
se dirigen cuando estn enfermas (Fig. 10):
Figure 10

En la figura 11, se muestra que una gran

porcin de los habitantes en Altar no
tienen derecho a los servicios del IMSS
(Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social), o
el ISSSTE (Instituto de seguridad y
servicios sociales de trabajadores del
estado) como trabajador(a), o
pensionado(a) o como miembro, para
que reciban atencin mdica a travs de
los servicios que estas instituciones
ofrecen.

Figure 11: ACCESO DE LOS ALTARENSES A LOS SERVICIOS

DE SALUD (FUENTE:http://www.inegi.gob.mx)
DERECHOHABIENCIA
POBLACIN
Poblacin sin derechohabiencia a servicios
4743
de salud
Poblacin derechohabiente a servicios de
2480
salud, que consiste de:
Poblacin derechohabiente del IMSS
1294
Poblacin derechohabiente del ISSSTE
199
Poblacin derechohabiente por el
789
Seguro Popular

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Resultant samples and subsamples: Tucson

Arizona provides a unique context for understanding the threat to immigrants and migrants wellbeing.4
Since the mid-1990s, Arizonas border with Mexico has garnered national attention as a major migration
corridor, and more recently, it has been the focus of media reports and negative images depicting the
border as a lawless wasteland. The challenges that emerge doing this research is thus indelibly linked to
the political climate on the Arizona side of the U.S. Mexico border.
Summary Statistics and Preliminary Findings
The data gathering instrument for the Tucson field work consisted of a survey instrument with both
open ended and closed-ended questions. The final section of this instrument consisted of a semistructured question guide that could be used to probe deeper into issues raised by women through the
open-ended questions. The open-ended questions offered the opportunity for women to speak about
their engagement with health care facilities and allowed researchers to explore further lines of inquiry.
State of Health
Few women claimed that they were experiencing poor health
(Fig. 12)

Figure. 12: Self-reported "Estado de

salud" (state of health) for each
subsample
Subsample
C
D
Total
Excelente 2
5
7
Muy Bueno 8
8
16
bueno 13
16
29
Regular 13
10
23
Malo 2
2
4
Total
38
41
79

Access to Services
How the sociopolitical environment affects access to health care
was a central question of the study. In this respect, we found a
wide range of practices as women sorted through complicated
bureaucracies of gaining access. Some were more successful
than others. One of the women interviewed had been a nurse
when she lived in Mexico. Having advanced beyond the preparatory level (prepa), her education level
was higher than many of the other respondents (see Figure 13 and 14).
Figure 13 Education Levels Altar Sample

Figure 14 Education Levels: Tucson Sample

EDUCACIN

40
30
20
10
0

33
17
2

12

11 | P a g e

However, she also knew that her working (in the US) entitled her to some accommodation and that the
rights of her children to health care needed to be respected and
in spite of her family being of low-income. She made sure to let
us know during in the interview that two of her children were US
For other women, accessing
citizens. For immigrant women, having children who were U.S.
health care services was an
born was not uncommon (Fig. 15).
intimidating experience, as
one interviewee recounts:
Figure 15: Number of children born in the U.S., Respondent

The Role of Fear and Intimidation

The onslaught of anti-immigrant legislative propositions in
Arizonas state legislature that began in 2004 with Proposition
200 (Prop 200) grew out of the myths that immigrants
overburdened healthcare
programs (King 2007). In part
perpetuated by a highly charged
debate over immigration reform
compounded by the nations post9/11 fears,5 Arizona policy makers
have amended state laws to
require applicants to show proof
of citizenship to access a number
of services and to require agencies
administering state and local
public benefits, under penalty of
law, to verify applicants'
immigration status. These laws fail
to consider those within families
who may be eligible for services,
and thus creates a chilling effect
in accessing services (Ferreira-

Pues cuando uno va, yo llevaba

temor. Llevaba miedo por si me
decan que no, o por ser
indocumentada. No s, tenia
temor. Por ir, a pedir un
servicio mdico o algono s
por qu. Cuando yo ped mis
AHCCCS, la ltima persona, no
se como que la intimida, la
ponen de nervios. Me imagino
que es Latina, que es mexicana,
no s. Hasta Y cuando ped los
AHCCCS para mi nia, sabe me
dio temor, como diciendo hay,
si me dices mentiras te vamos a
investigar. Y cuando me
tocaban otras personas que
eran de ac, de EEUU, gringo,
ellos no, y esa (la Latina), si.
por no estar legal en este
pas. Lo mismo pues a mi
familia.

Figure 16

N = 358
With
Subsamples
C and D
combined

12 | P a g e

Pinto 2005). Figure 16 above compares subsamples C and

D, showing, as is true for all statistics, as the sample size
goes up, even small differences can become highlight
significant. In other words although only 80 women were
interviewed, the slightly larger number of women who
were categorized as subsample D (where at least one
member of the household is thought to be
undocumented: n= 41) translates into a total of 209 when
all household members are considered. By comparison,
the lower number of women who were categorized as
subsample C (where immigration status does not seem to
be an issue: n= 30) translates into a total of 107 when all
household members are considered. Thus, the total
number of those more likely to be affected by adverse
health policy restrictions is nearly twice than that where
health service eligibility is not an issue (figure 17).

Figure. 17

Respondents were asked if they had any type of health insurance and these responses were examined
according to subsample (C and D). Following the idea that the combined anti-immigrant rhetoric and
the ensuing restrictions in health service deliver policies (such as Prop 200) produces a chilling effect
on health care access (Ferreira-Pinto 2005), our null hypothesis posits that there is no difference
between subsamples C and D. Figure 18 shows the preliminary X2 (Chi-Square) test results of the
comparison of these responses. The table indicates that a 2 x 2 table yields ample cell size frequencies,
but that further analysis of the data is warranted. The Pearson X2 and Fishers tests yield significant
differences between the two samples. However, the (Yates) Continuity Correction gives a slightly higher
confidence interval level (p < .012), so the null hypothesis cannot be rejected without further analysis.
Figure. 18: Preliminary Chi-Square Tests for Subsample (C and D) Differences in Access to Insurance

Value

df

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

.006

Continuity Correctionb

6.338

.012

Likelihood Ratio

7.893

.005

Pearson Chi-Square

7.622

Exact Sig. (2-sided)

Fisher's Exact Test

Linear-by-Linear

.008
7.514

Exact Sig. (1-sided)

.005

.006

Association
N of Valid Cases

71

a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 12.68.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

13 | P a g e

The apparent curtailment of supportive services comes at a time when the immigration of women who
contribute to the growth of subsample D is increasing. Figure 19 shows that women belonging to
subsample Dhaving entered the U.S. after 2000are more recent arrivals that those from subsample
C. Women from subsample D are on average younger, which places them closer to important childbearing and child-rearing stages of their lives (Fig. 20). Once settled, they are not only confronted by
economic constraints, but also social hostilities, and/or restrictive policies (Wilson & McQuiston 2006;
Wilson 2008; 2000).
Figure 19
To avoid being saddled
with medical care costs,
some women relied
heavily on home remedies
using herbs and teas to
keep them healthy and
out of the doctors
hospital. As one women
explained:

Figure 20

Yopuros ts. Siempre

mis remedios me
funcionan perfectamente.
De nuestros antepasados
porque antes no haba
mdicos, no haba
medicina tan avanzada
como ahora Y como la
hacan antes? Hojas de
limn, y hojas de
eucalipto, con flores de
bougambillia, nosotros no
los daba mi abuelita,
desde hace aos, mas de
100 aos, yo ahorita tengo
ya casi 50.

A content analysis of the narratives

show that for some respondents the
issue was not that they did not have
the documents, but that they did not
have all of the documentation necessary and with them at the time they attempted to obtain assistance.
59% stated that they had dealt with this difficulty for accessing services, and 41% did not report having
issues. In addition, a majority of the respondents (65%) stated that they had felt in some way unwelcomed, discriminated, or otherwise made to feel uncomfortable by medical staff.
14 | P a g e

Family Planning and Changing Gendered Norms

As previously noted, many women

had children who were born in the
U.S., but many also had children who
came with them from Mexico (Fig.
21).
However, the research also suggests
that gendered norms with regard to
family size and family planning are
undergoing change. Women
represented by subsample D, who
tend to be younger on average, more
educated (Fig 14b.), and who have
arrived later on average than those
from subsample D, were more likely
to report that they have had tubal
ligations as a birth control measure
(Fig. 22). The decision to
limit the number of
children was based on
realities in terms of
finances and time, as one
woman, Karla, remarked,
La decisin de operarme,
es: pocos hijos para darles
mucho.

Figure 21

Fig 17

Figure 22

It was not uncommon to

find women speak
favorably about what they
perceived as an emerging
ability to openly discuss
reproductive health issues
with medical personal and
with their adolescent
children, such as the use of
birth control and condoms,
as expressed in the words
of one interviewee:
Pues, cuando comienza
uno en la edad de la punzada que nosotros le decimos, es cuando ve3s que ya el nio empieza a
definirse su sexualidad. Entonces, a menos en mi hogar, nosotros nos sentamos en la mesa y platicamos
de sas cosos. No hay vergenza. Porque all (en Mxico) no muchas personas estn preparadas.

15 | P a g e

Methodological Considerations and Limitations

Limitations in Ascertaining Immigration status Amidst a Climate of Fear
An early article by Cornelius (1982) points out some of the methodological challenges inherent in
locating and interviewing undocumented immigrants, where personal interviewing is the primary datagathering technique. As such, an inescapable feature of this research was respondents fear of reporting
self-incriminating information. Marchevsky and Theoharis (2008) argue that because officials are
influenced by the public discourse and prejudices, their decisions result in the denying of eligible
applicants from applying and receiving much-needed public benefits. A prevailing assumption that
informed the research and its design, therefore, was that respondents would be fearful of divulging
information that might jeopardize their access to and participation in health care programs, and and
potentially, their well-being or that of their families.
According to Cornelius, fear introduces bias into the research
results in two ways. The first is that fear produces extremely
high non-response rates. In response to this first issue,
researchers must often accept smaller samples that can improve
response rates. However, in doing so, the ability to generalize is
weakened. To achieve a better response rate, researchers must
also work harder to locate and engage participants. This usually
involves more-often complex, time-consuming, approaches (e.g.
ethnographic) designed to both locate undocumented populations
who reside in the U.S. and build trust at the same time. Such
compromises are necessary if *researchers+ want to find answers to many of the empirical questions
that are at the heart of the debate over undocumented immigration (Cornelius 1982: 381). The
accuracy and reliability of the data collected can thus be improved by adopting appropriate field-work
strategies, as well as employing well-trained interviewers who have extended personal contacts within
the community and subscribe to an ethic of respect for respondents who, because of the proliferation of
anti-immigrant rhetoric and media, may already suffer low-level but constant assault on their dignity
and may be more reluctant to cooperate.
The second way in which fear introduce systematic bias is through the reluctance to answers to
questions that may incriminate. As noted above, for undocumented immigrants, fear of becoming
targets of scrutiny stems from the adverse socio-political climate that increasingly pressures service
agencies to ascertain applicants legal status. This same issue is discussed by Cornelius (1982) in the
context of his early 1978 fieldwork among undocumented migrants in California, where less threatening
questions were asked to ascertain the legal status of respondents. In the current study also, no question
about respondents legal status was made. Instead, combination of questions about health care access
and behaviorsinformed by assumptions about undocumented immigrants struggle to adapt in the
host countrywere built into the survey instrument. In the absence of outright admission from the
respondent that they did not have documents, combinations of questions could be use to infer the
respondents immigration status. Upon inspection of the responses, certain patterns emerge to allow us
to claim with reasonable certainty that we had met our goal of interviewing at least 40 respondents in
which at least one member of the household was undocumented. However, in adopting such a method,
the research assumes certain limitations in terms of its resulting data.

16 | P a g e

Community Partnerships
The research team from the University of Arizona leveraged relationships with local agencies (the
Mexican Consulate, Ventanilla de Salud, Luz Social Services, and El Rio Community Health Center),
where immigration status of potential clients does not always preclude them from accessing services.
In the initial phase of the research in Tucson, a variation of the snowball technique as described by
Cornelius (1982) was adopted. This consisted of the use of community health workers (promotores de
salud) of the El Rio Community Health Center. The promotores served a dual role in this project: they
provided safe [social] spaces in which to conduct research, and through these spaces and through their
far-reaching social networking skills, assisted in the recruitment of study participants. The high response
rate (100%) of those invited to participate by the promotores is attributable to their years of experience
in working in such settings. By comparison, without the use of promotores as recruiting agents, initial
response rates were extremely low (around 15%-25%).
The El Rio Community Health workers were actively engaged in the community by conducting diabetes
education and support group education. The networks they had access to thus favored a sample in
which individuals had already taken an interest to improving their knowledge to improve health.
However, by the studys dependence on community agents for recruiting participants introduces bias in
the resulting sample in several ways. First, it favors members of the community already engaged in
health education programs, and who are more likely to be conscious of the benefits of health-seeking
behaviors. Secondly, it favors individuals who are long-term residents (as opposed to temporary or
recent immigrants), and as such, families who have steady year-round urban-based employment.
Repeated attempts to reduce this bias by urging respondents to refer other potential respondents to the
research team were unsuccessful. Seeking participants at other sites also proved inadequate due to the
inability to secure privacy for interviewees to answer intimate questions about sensitive topics such as
those related to reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases. The survey instrument offered
an attempt to reduce this bias by incorporating numerous open-ended questions that gave respondents
ample opportunities to tell
their own story (Cornelius
Figure 23
1982).
Generalizability
The fact that most of the
women interviewed in the
Tucson site were from the
Mexican state of Sonora (Fig.
23) is explained it part by the
history of the region and the
historic relationship between
Arizonan and Sonoran
territories. However, it also
signals a limitation of the study
to make predictions about the
reproductive health care
continuum without further
research, especially when most
of the women coming through
the Altar-Sonora corridor came
from Mexicos southern and central states (Fig. 5).
17 | P a g e

Future Directions:
In addition to continued exploration into the themes already mentioned (Access to Service, Fear and
Intimidation, and Changing Gendered Norms), the following recurring themes will undergo further
analysis using statistical tests and content analysis of the narratives.
Experiencing and assessing difference between US and Mexican Health Care cultures
In developing the reproductive health care continuum, we are interested in how im/migrant women
make adjustments with the changing environments. To this end, women were asked if they noticed
differences in the culture of health care service in the U.S. and Mexico.
Exploiting Binational/Border Contexts
With the threat of entering into debt looming large, many
women exploit their living close to the border to help them
avoid health care utilization.
Health care service utilization
It appears that health care utilization also requires overcoming
an assault to indignities created by the health care service
application process, where many women expressed
indignation with the added scrutiny that they underwent. This
process is repeated many times through the course of their
lives and with each renewal for coverage.
Language barriers
Women needed to work around language barriers for
communicating their concerns to health care professional,
understanding their course of treatment, directives, and for
resolving billing and payment issues.

Paying the Price

The impact of Immigration Raids on

Americas Children

According to a 2007 report by the Urban

Children in mixed immigration status household.
Institute, there are approximately 5
The research suggests a need to better understand how
million U.S. children who have at least one
policies impact even those who may be eligible for services
parent who is undocumented.
such as U.S.-born children in households where an
undocumented family member lives. This study is only the
beginning of an emerging scholarship that addresses contemporary gaps in public policy procedures
affecting children of mixed immigration status families (See inset above). Recent reports have recently
exposed immigration enforcement irregularities that affect the health and welfare of children. As such,
findings from this and future research in this area should have far-reaching implication for U.S. policies
and immigration policy development. As in many parts of the world, U.S. political rhetoric ignores
decades of migration in response to the demand for labor in more developed nations (MDNs) and the
progressive impoverishment in less developed nations (LDNs).

18 | P a g e

Student Support
The funding made it possible to hire students to help with the research as well as provide them
opportunities to learn and gain experience in research methods, fieldwork, and data analyses, help
prepare project reports, and in the case of Tucson, showcase Spanish language skills. In addition to
conducting weekly interviews with women who have migrated/immigrated to Tucson, the research
assistants transcribed each of the interviews into a word processing document in the language of the
respondent (presumably Spanish), entered and processed data on the software program, Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and performed a content analysis of the qualitative portion of the
data.

Student Researchers:
The PIMSA funds made it possible to hire students to help with the research.
In so doing, the project created opportunities for students to apply their
skills and knowledge, and to learn about fieldwork, research methodology,
and data analyses. In the case of Tucson, the project offered the opportunity
for students to showcase their Spanish language skills. The following are the
students who participated in this project:
Katherine Ann Careaga, El Colegio de Sonora, concluy su Tesis de
doctorado titulada: Construcciones de vulnerabilidad y agencia de las
mujeres ante las enfermedades de transmisin sexual (ETS) en el proceso
migratorio de Altar, Sonora, 2006-2007). Doctorado en Ciencias Sociales en
la lnea de investigacin de Epidemiologa Sociocultural de El Colegio de
Sonora, Generacin 2005-2007. Fecha de la defensa: Septiembre, 2009, en
Hermosillo, Sonora.
Valeria Elizabeth Figueroa Rodrguez, El Colegio de Sonora, maestra en
ciencias colabor en el trabajo de campo que se realiz en la comunidad de
Altar, Sonora, con el diseo del instrumento metodolgico de las encuestas
aplicadas en la comunidad, y hacer las transcripciones de las entrevistas que
se realizaron. Por otro lado, particip en la incorporacin y procesamiento
de los datos obtenidos en las encuestas, en el programa informtico:
paquete estadstico para las ciencias sociales (SPSS).

Estudiante de maestra del

Colegio de Sonora en
entrevista en Altar

Azucena Sanchez, University of Arizona, is an advanced undergraduate

Marketing Major student at the Eller College of Management at the
University of Arizona (UA). She has previous experience searching and translating historical documents
for the Pascua Yaqui Court of Appeals and acting as the office clerk under the supervision of Professor
James Hopkins. Born and raised in the Arizona-Sonora border towns of Nogales, her duties with the
PIMSA project combined a personal background and interest in Mexican-American culture and
immigration with skills in interviewing, and data transcription, entry, and analysis.
Yvette Quijada, University of Arizona, is a graduate student in the Mexican-American Studies & Raza
Studies Department. She also teaches at Luz Social Services, Inc. a private, non-profit community based
corporation founded in 1971 to provide health and human services to the Latino communities in Tucson,
Arizona.

19 | P a g e

Scholarly Presentations
Presentations
The study, at different stages of the research, has been presented at the following venues and events:

Date

Venue/event

Presentation

October 7,
2008

VIII Semana Binacional de Salud:

Foro de Polticas Pblicas
PIMSA/Health Initiatives of the
Americas (HIA)/Programa de
Salud y Migracin. Zacatecas, Zac.
Mxico.

Un Estudio Binacional de Mujeres Inmigrantes en el

Contexto de un Continuum de Cuidado de Salud Un
Estudio Binacional de Mujeres Inmigrantes en el
Contexto de un Continuum de Cuidado de Salud
Reproductiva en la Frontera Mxico-EU. (Binational
Team Mid-term Report)
Anna Ochoa OLeary Universidad de Arizona
Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de Sonora

October 4,
2008

Community Report: What you

taught us about Migration and
Health., Binational Migration
Institute (BMI) El Pueblo
Neighborhood Center, Tucson, AZ

Women at the Intersection: The Struggle for Family

Reunification at the Margins of the U,.S. and Mexico
Border Anna Ochoa OLeary Universidad de Arizona

Octubre 20,
2008

Foro niez migrante y derechos

humanos. Matamoros,
Tamaulipas

Menores migrantes en trnsito por Sonora. Gloria

Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de Sonora

Octubre
23-25, 2008

Primer Congreso Internacional de

Ciencias Sociales en el Sureste
mexicano. Cancn, Quintana Roo.

La antropologa de la migracin; poblaciones

complejas, trabajo de campo y actores. Gloria Ciria
Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de Sonora

Noviembre 78, 2008

V Congreso Internacional sobre

Migracin y Desarrollo Campus
Central de la Universidad Rafael
Landvar, Guatemala, Guatemala

Mesa: Procesos de Detencin y deportacin o Retorno.

Encuentros mortales en la frontera: Mujeres
inmigrantes en situacin de abandono Anna Ochoa
OLeary, Universidad de Arizona, y Gloria Ciria ValdzGardea, Colegio de Sonora

May 23-25,
2009

II Encuentro Internacional:
Migracin y Niez Migrante.
(Colegio de Sonora Hermosillo,
Sonora, Mexico).

Ancdotas de burreros, jornaleros y cuatreros:

narrativas de migrantes en el uso de sustancias como
mecanismo ante la vulnerabilidad y coyotaje en Altar,
Sonora. Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de Sonora
Desafos metodolgicos dentro el un mbito
discriminatorio estadounidense: Prctica y tica en un
estudio de salud reproductiva entre mujeres
inmigrantes en Tucson, Arizona
Anna Ochoa OLeary and Azucena Sanchez, Universidad
de Arizona (UofA) Josefina Meranza y Salvador
Barrajas, El Rio Community Health Center, Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ

20 | P a g e

Scholarly Presentations (cont)

Date

Venue/event

Presentation

October 5-6,
2009

PIMSA/Health Initiatives of the

Americas (HIA)/Programa de
Salud y Migracin (Binational
Team Presentation), Santa Fe,
NM

A Multidisciplinary Binational Study of Migrant

Women in the Context of a US-Mexico Reproductive
Health Care Continuum (Oct. 5)
Anna Ochoa OLeary, Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea

IX Semana Binacional de Salud:

Binational Policy Forum (Santa
Fe, NM)

Migration and Women on the U.S.- Mexico Border:

Environment, Access, and the Reproductive Health Care
Continuum (Oct 6)
Anna Ochoa OLeary, Universidad de Arizona

Marzo 5-6,
2009

XIII Reunin Internacional, La

Frontera, una nueva concepcin
cultural. San Cristbal de las
casas, Chiapas, Mxico

Revisitando fronteras: actores y lugares de la

migracin. Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de
Sonora

Marzo 5-6,
2009

XIII Reunin Internacional, La

Frontera, una nueva concepcin
cultural. San Cristbal de las
casas, Chiapas, Mxico.

Desafos metodolgicos en el estudio de poblaciones

mviles: menores migrantes en trnsito por Sonora
Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de Sonora

Marzo 24,
2009

27 Aniversario del Departamento

de Psicologa y Ciencias de la
Comunicacin. Hermosillo,
Sonora.

Investigacin Cultural en Sonora. Gloria Ciria ValdzGardea, Colegio de Sonora

Octubre 8-10,
2009

Taller internacional tica y

metodologa en la investigacin
fronteriza binacional (BBREM),
organizado por la Universidad de
Arizona. El Rancho La Osa
ubicado en el Ssabe, Arizona.

"Reflexiones antropolgicas en poblaciones mviles:

frontera, actores y trabajo de campo, Gloria Ciria
Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de Sonora

December 27, 2009

American Anthropological
Association Annual Meeting
(Philadelphia, PA)

Borderscapes of Practice: Im/migrant Women and the

U.S.-Mexico Reproductive Health Care Continuum
(Invited Session)

April 13-17,
2010:

Society of Applied Anthropology

(Merida, Yucatn, Mexico).
(acceptance pending)

Narrativas de salud en la periferia fronteriza: Mujeres

migrantes en trnsito y el acceso a la salud. Gloria Ciria
Valdz-Gardea, Colegio de Sonora

Sin Papeles: Reflections on Methods and Ethics in a

Study of Reproductive Health and Migration in the U.S.Mexico Border Region. Anna Ochoa OLeary Ph.D.,
University of Arizona

21 | P a g e

Scholarly Papers in Development for publication

Valdz-Gardea, Gloria Ciria Current Trends in Mexican Migration: The Altar-Sasabe Corridor, Taking the
Lead on the Borders Periphery. Special Edition, Journal of the Southwest. The University of Arizona,
Forthcoming 2010.
OLeary Anna Ochoa. Mujeres en el Cruce/Women at the Intersection: Mapping Family Separation at a
time of Global Uncertainty, Journal of the Southwest. Forthcoming 2010.
OLeary Anna Ochoa, and Azucena Sanchez, Sin Papeles: Methodological and Ethical Reflections on a
Study of Reproductive Health and Migration in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region.
OLeary Anna Ochoa and Yvette Quijada. Borderscapes of Practice: Im/migrant Women and the U.S.Mexico Reproductive Health Care Continuum.

Public Policy Recommendations

One of the goals of this research was to make comparisons of existing policy initiatives and reproductive
health care resources and through this analysis develop guidelines and recommendations that integrate
gendered perspectives for improvement.
Altar Sonora:
Ajustar los programas de salud pblica (prevencin de ETS/VIH/SIDA) para que tomen en cuenta
las relaciones de gnero de manera crtica, reflexiva y constante.

Incrementar la accesibilidad a los exmenes mdicos, los tratamientos a las ETS, los condones y la
vacuna de VPH a todas las mujeres en Altar.

Trabajar con los lderes en el proceso e industria migratoria, incluyendo ONGS, dueos de
hospedajes, guas, autoridades y militares. Desmilitarizar las fronteras y/o transformar
profundamente las polticas militares, ya que son violadores sistemticos de los derechos de las
mujeres.

Capacitar a los trabajadores del Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF) locales sobre las leyes y
protocolos relevantes, as como sobre las mujeres migrantes.

Difundir informacin sobre la pastilla del da siguiente y hacerla accesible.

Tucson, Arizona
Develop popular education workshop curriculum and materials specific to reproductive health care
for immigrant women, for use in community group settings
Develop educational materials for employees of social service agencies that will help dispel myths
about widespread beliefs that immigration enforcement policies punish only those who have
entered the U.S. without official inspection.
Compare the economics of im/migrant women reproductive health care strategies with mainstream
populations, especially in light of a high rate of sterilization (permanent tubal ligation) among
immigrant women for as a preferred method of contraception.

22 | P a g e

Principal Investigators
Anna Ochoa OLeary, Ph.D. received her degree in Anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1999,
where she also received training at the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA). She is
currently an Assistant Professor of Practice at the Department of Mexican American Studies and Raza
Studies at the University of Arizona, where she is also affiliated with the Binational Migration Institute,
an association of scholars dedicated to the study of how immigration enforcement affects Latino
populations regardless of legal status. She is also involved in the grass-roots organization, the Coalicin
de Derechos Humanos, a immigrant rights group. Her current research, teaching, and publications focus
on immigration, gender issues, education, culture, the urban politics of Mexican/U.S.-Mexican
populations, and the political economy of the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2006 she was awarded a Fulbright
Scholarship to research migrant womens encounters with immigration enforcement agents, Women at
the Intersection: Immigration Enforcement and Transnational Migration on the U.S.-Mexico Border.
Gloria Ciria Valdz-Gardea, Ph.D., comunicloga por la Universidad de Sonora, maestra en artes y
doctora en filosofa por el Departamento de Antropologa de la Universidad de Arizona. ProfesorInvestigador en El Colegio de Sonora. Miembro del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores desde el 2007 y
es Perfil PROMEP. Ha conducido varios proyectos binacionales de investigacin en el tema migratorio.
Sus libros recientes son: "Soy pescadora de almeja: respuestas a la marginacin en el Alto Golfo de
California", y "Achicando Futuros: Actores y lugares de la migracin", editados por El Colegio de Sonora.
Ha publicado artculos de investigacin en revista mexicanas indexadas as como en revistas
internacionales. Es coordinadora General del Seminario Permanente Niez Migrante, y del Encuentro
Internacional Migracin y Niez Migrante. Su prxima publicacin (2010) es una edicin especial del
Journal of the Southwest sobre el tema migratorio. La doctora Valdz-Gardea recibi el reconocimiento
de la USCD Raza Graduates por su desempeo como docente en la University of California, San Diego.

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Works Cited
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Colegio de Sonora, Obregn 54, Centro Hermosillo, Sonora, Mxico 83000.

The Binational Migration Institute at the Department of Mexican American and Raza Studies at the University of
Arizona, (Csar E. Chvez Build., PO Box 210023, Tucson, Arizona USA 85721) seeks to comprehensively document
and analyze the interaction between migrants and immigration enforcement authorities.
3

Valdz, Gloria (2007). Peridico Expreso. Fuera de Ruta Altar, Sonora: geografas rurales olvidadas. Hermosillo,
Sonora. 7 de Julio.
4

Immigrant is used in a deliberate way to refer to persons who come to a country to take up permanent
residence. Within the context of the United States, the more narrow designation of migrant as a person who
moves from place to place to work can be incorporated into the former category of immigrant in view of border
enforcement policies that have disrupted ancient patterns of circular migration in the classic sense by making it
more difficult for migrants to move across political boundaries. Due to the policies making border crossing more
difficult, former migrants are forced to assume more lengthy stays in the United States, that are pseudo
permanent in character, making them immigrants in the absence of any intention to reside permanently.
5

For a comprehensive discussion of how the militarization of the border and the heightening of the terror of
border crossing are related to the development of anti-immigrant sentiment, see Wilson (2000).

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