Event Recap: Access to Health and Education of U.S. born children in Mexico

Recently, we hosted an online presentation of one of our most recent research projects, “Health Care and Education Access of Transnational Children in Mexico,” in collaboration with El Colegio de México. Our researcher, Dr. Laura Juárez, presented the data, which indicated that U.S.-born children who return to Mexico with their families face challenges enrolling in school because they lack the proper documentation. However, once they’ve enrolled, their academic level is usually on par with their Mexican counterparts and there aren’t many disparities, despite their move to a different country. The same cannot be said for accessing health care. She says the fact that Mexico’s education system is more centralized than health systems could help explain why U.S.-born children face even more challenges getting access to health services.

Dr. Claudia Masferrer commented on the research and pointed to the fact that we are referring to children who come with their traditional families. This research is a good starting point, and the conversation could be further expanded to analyze what happens to children who return with only one of their parents or in different situations other than the traditional family unit.

This event was held in Spanish and can be watched here.