BUSSW Institute Finds Deep Inequities Facing Children Along the U.S.-Mexico Border
Nearly two million children live on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border, and almost all of them are U.S. citizens. Most grow up in neighborhoods with far fewer resources to support their health and development than children living elsewhere in the country.
A new report from the Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development (IECOHD) at Boston University School of Social Work examines neighborhood conditions for children across the 44 U.S. counties in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California that border Mexico. Using the Child Opportunity Index 3.0-2023, researchers compared neighborhood opportunity in border and non-border regions and measured racial and ethnic inequities in access to that opportunity.
The findings show a substantial gap. Border-area children live in neighborhoods with a median Child Opportunity Score of 29, compared to 51 for children elsewhere in the U.S. Texas has the lowest opportunity of any border state, with a score of just 11, while pockets of high opportunity exist in San Diego County and around Tucson, Arizona.
Racial and ethnic disparities compound this gap. Hispanic children along the border live in neighborhoods with opportunity scores 48 points lower than those of White children, nearly double the disparity found away from the border. Researchers found this gap persists even after accounting for family poverty status.
The report concludes that recent federal policy changes, including cuts to Medicaid and food assistance paired with increased funding for immigration enforcement, are likely to deepen these inequities rather than address them.
Learn more about the Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development