UC Davis

Immigration and sexual and gender minority (SGM) policies operate as interlocking systems that shape perceived risk, generate fear, and drive care avoidance among SGM immigrants in the United States. This Perspective argues that immigration policy functions as SGM health policy by structuring eligibility, surveillance, and perceived safety within health care systems. We describe how immigration enforcement, asylum restrictions, and SGM-targeted legislation produce psychological harm and suppress care-seeking, particularly among transgender immigrants and asylum seekers. Persistent data gaps obscure these harms. Recognizing these intersecting legal regimes is essential for advancing equity, clinical safety, and public health.