Report cover of diverse people holding signs about Healthcare4all
Immigrant Inclusion & Racial Justice

May 2014

By Enrico Marcelli, Manuel Pastor, and Steven P. Wallace

Please note: reports dated earlier than June 2020 were published under our previous names: the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) or the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII).

While the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to eventually provide coverage to all Americans, one important group is explicitly excluded: undocumented immigrants.

Legislation proposed by State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Long Beach) would seek to address this issue by making Medi-Cal, the public insurance set up for low-income residents, available to the undocumented and developing a private insurance exchange option nearly identical to Covered California. This brief aimed to provide a factual basis for a consideration of both the Lara bill and other alternatives that may surface in the near future.

In this brief, the authors focused on the following questions:

  • What stands in the way of inclusion of all Californians because of policy design?
  • Who are the undocumented Californians left out of the reform?
  • How does access to medical insurance impact undocumented Californians and the state?
  • What does past experience suggest is the best way to reach this population?
  • Is it politically feasible for California to expand coverage for all?

Download brief

Ensuring California’s Future by Insuring California’s Undocumented

Read our other publications by research area

    Immigrant Integration & Racial Justice

    Our work on immigrant integration and racial justice brings together three emphases: scholarship that draws on academic theory and rigorous research, data that provides information structured to highlight the process of immigrant integration over time, and engagement that seeks to create new dialogues with government, community organizers, business and civic leaders, immigrants and the voting public to advance immigrant integration and racial equity.

    Economic Inclusion & Climate Equity

    In the area of economic inclusion, we at ERI advance academic theory and practical applications linking economic growth, environmental quality, and civic health with bridging of racial and other gaps; produce accessible and actionable data and analysis through the data tools; and establish research partnerships to deepen and advance the dialogue, planning, and actions around racial equity, environmental justice, and the built environment.

    Social Movements & Governing Power

    ERI’s work in the area of governing power includes: conducting cross-disciplinary studies of today’s social movements, supporting learning and strategizing efforts to advance dialogues among organizers, funders, intermediaries, evaluators, and academics, and developing research-based social change frameworks and tools to inform—and be informed by—real-world, real-time efforts towards a vision of deep change.

    Publications Directory

    In 2020, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) merged to form the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI).

    The full list of publications published under our previous and current names can be found in our publications directory.

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