Journal of Medical Humanities publishes original interdisciplinary studies of medicine and medical education. Research findings emerge from three areas of investigation: medical humanities, cultural studies, and pedagogy

You can download and save these free articles to your computer, iPad, or mobile device until May 31, 2013:

• Dis-ease or Disease? Ontological Rarefaction in the Medical-Industrial Complex - S.S. Graham
• Autography as Auto-Therapy: Psychic Pain and the Graphic Memoir - I. Williams
• The Theatricalization of Death - T. Zamir
• A History of Physician Suicide in America - R. Legha
• The Medical Humanities and the Perils of Curricular Integration - N. Chiavaroli and C. Ellwood

Policy Beat
Sweeping Senate Bill Sets the Stage for Fundamental Overhaul of US Immigration System

After months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of US senators informally called the “Gang of Eight” in mid-April introduced long-awaited legislation for sweeping reform of the US immigration system. This article provides a summary of the Senate bill’s provisions and outlines the main critiques and obstacles ahead, including a tight legislative calendar, a difficult political dynamic in the House of Representatives, and an early stumbling block precipitated by the Boston Marathon bombing.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

Race and Social Problems provides an international and multidisciplinary forum for issues germane to race and its enduring relationship to psychological, socioeconomic, political, and cultural problems. The journal publishes original empirical studies, reviews of past research, theoretical studies, and invited essays that advance the understanding of the complexities of race and its relationship to social problems. Coverage includes anthropology, communications, criminology, economics, history, law, political science, psychology, public health, social work, and sociology.

You can download and save these free articles to your computer, iPad or mobile device:

• Measuring the Economic Racial Divide Across the Course of American Lives - M.R. Rank
• Racial Formation in Theory and Practice: The Case of Mexicans in the United States - D.S. Massey
• Hispanic Fertility, Immigration, and Race in the Twenty-First Century - E.A. Parrado and C.A. Flippen
• Racial Disparities in Early Criminal Justice Involvement - R.D. Crutchfield, M.L. Skinner, K.P. Haggerty, A. McGlynn and R.F. Catalano
• Goal-Striving Stress and Racial Differences in Mental Health - H.W. Neighbors, S. L. Sellers, Rong Zhang and J.S. Jackson

HKUL users can continue to access the journal via http://library.hku.hk/record=b4288839

Immigration in the United States: New Economic, Social, Political Landscapes with Legislative Reform on the Horizon
Immigration has contributed to many of the economic, social, and political processes that are foundational to the United States as a nation since the first newcomers arrived over 400 years ago. After brushes with immigration reform that began in 2001 and continued in 2006 and 2007, the United States seems to be on the threshold of overhauling the legal immigration system in the most substantive way since 1965. This article provides a comprehensive overview of major legislation and events affecting US immigration throughout history, legal and illegal immigration flows, postrecession immigration trends, and more.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

Top Five Reasons Why Africa Should Be a Priority for the United States

Released in March 2013, this report from the Brookings Institution’s African Growth Initiative provides compelling information on why the African continent should be a public policy priority for the United States. The report is divided into five short sections, including “China in Africa: Implications for U.S. Competition and Diplomacy,” “Transforming the U.S.-African Commercial Relationship,” and “Advancing Peace and Security in Africa.” It’s a timely work that sets out a cogent argument and will be of particular interest to public policy scholars, journalists, and others interested in global politics.

[Source: Scout Report, Volume 19, Number 15, April 12, 2013]

Feature
Health Outcomes of Mexican Immigrant Women in the United States
According to the National Population Council of Mexico, only 15 percent of Mexican immigrant women in the United States were enrolled in public health programs in 2012. Much of what is known about the Mexican immigrant population’s access to health care in the United States is based on combined data for both sexes. However, in terms of health, women have different experiences and needs, and it is therefore important to deepen knowledge of health determinants, access to and use of health services, and health status of this group in particular. This article provides a comparative analysis of health outcomes of Mexican immigrant women in the United States, assessing the results against what is known as the immigrant paradox — the idea that these women enjoy a better state of health overall than might be expected, given their socioeconomic status and very limited health insurance coverage.

Country Profile
Guatemalan Migration in Times of Civil War and Post-War Challenges
Since 1990, the number of Central American immigrants in the United States has nearly tripled. This immigrant population grew faster than any other region-of-origin population from Latin America between 2000 and 2010. This article focuses on a wide range of characteristics of Central American immigrants residing in the United States, including the population’s size, geographic distribution, admission categories, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Going to the Back of the Line: A Primer on Lines, Visa Categories, and Wait Times - By Claire Bergeron
Contrary to popular belief, there is not one “line” that leads to lawful permanent residence; current immigration law provides multiple paths to permanent residency. This brief, the first in a new series of issue briefs related to the ongoing comprehensive immigration reform debate, examines who is in the “line,” what are the various visa categories involved in family- and employment-based immigration, wait times, countries most affected by the backlogs, and more. The brief, and MPI’s extensive research and data offerings that are directly on point to the current debate, can be found at a new online resource.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

Feature
The Opening of Burmese Borders: Impacts on Migration
Burma, a resources-rich yet impoverished nation also known as Myanmar, rejoined the international community in 2011 after a military junta loosened its grip. Before the Southeast Asian nation opened its borders, Burmese migrated primarily for low-paid, clandestine work in Thailand but also as a result of violence and natural disasters. This article explores how the country’s recent transition has impacted Burmese migration flows.

Policy Beat
Immigration Reform Returns to Center Stage of US Politics
Immigration reform is squarely back on the agenda in Washington, with the unveiling of plans for major reform of the US immigration system by the White House and a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight. This article explores the policy and political aspects of this fast-moving debate, examines an uptick in apprehensions of illegal crossers, and more.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

1. Westward Ho!
2. The End of the Latin American Left
3. Love Is a Battlefield
4. What Richard III Can Teach Us Today
5. What to Expect from a North Korean Nuclear Test
6. Don’t Fear the Migrants
7. Hate Obama’s Drone War?
8. What George W. Bush Did Right
9. Inside the Islamic Emirate of Timbuktu
10. Liplomacy
11. How does the U.S. minimum wage compare to those around the world?
12. Military Brain Drain

[Source: Foreign Policy, 4th - 14th February 2013]

Feature
“Suddenly, Migration Was Everywhere”: The Conception and Future Prospects of the Global Migration Group
Several international initiatives were launched in the 1990s and 2000s in response to the steady development of migration policy and governance in the international arena. One such initiative, the Global Migration Group, an inter-agency group, has received scant attention from scholars. This article provides a critical analysis of its genesis, functioning, and future.

Spotlight
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
The US immigrant population — estimated at 40.4 million in 2011 — is the nation’s historical numeric high, and it is also the largest in the world. About 20 percent of all international migrants reside in the United States, even as the country accounts for less than 5 percent of the world’s population. Find out more top statistics on immigrants and immigration in the United States in this article which presents the latest, most interesting data in one easy-to-use resource.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

MPI Issues Handy Compilation of Sought-After Data on Immigrants in the U.S.

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) released its annual compilation of statistics on immigrants in the United States, offering some of the most sought-after data on current and historical immigration trends, as well as the current size of the foreign-born population, employment rates, geographic concentrations and more. The U.S. immigrant population of 40.4 million in 2011 is the world’s largest immigrant population.

The data article in the Migration Information Source, MPI’s online journal, provides data to answer the following questions and more:

• How many immigrants are in the United States today?
• What are the historical numbers and shares of immigrants in the United States?
• How many unauthorized immigrants are here? Where are they from?
• What percentage of the immigrant population is college educated?
• How many immigrants work in the labor force?
• What kinds of jobs do they have?
• What is the unemployment rate among immigrants?
• Which states and counties have the largest and fastest-growing foreign-born populations?
• Which states have the highest/lowest percentages of Mexican-born immigrants?
• How many of the foreign born came as refugees and asylees?

The Spotlight draws on data from MPI, the Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey (ACS) and decennial Census, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Technology.

The complete article can be found online at: http://my.migrationpolicy.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=7TwGVL8a5aoscMZQ%2BMRJG9lxoRE07hzO

MPI’s Data Hub offers significant current and historical demographic, educational, workforce, linguistic, and income and poverty data on immigrants nationally and by state. To access the data by state, visit: www.migrationinformation.org/DataHub/acscensus.cfm.

[Source: Migration Information Source]