Dominican immigrants in the mainland US and Puerto Rico: understanding the role of selective migration and destination environment in explaining immigrants’ unique health profiles

Prior research shows that while recent immigrants arriving in the United States exhibit better health than their US-born counterparts, this advantage diminishes with immigrants' tenure of US residence, a phenomenon known as the “healthy immigrant effect.” Scholars continue to debate the mechanisms—including immigrant cultural practices, selective migration, and characteristics of the destination country—that produce immigrants' unique health profiles. We focus on the case of immigrants from the Dominican Republic residing in the mainland US or Puerto Rico to provide empirical clarity on this debate. Using 5-year samples of the 2010-2014 and 2015-2019 waves of the American Community Survey and the Puerto Rico Community Survey, we show that upon arrival in the United States, Dominican immigrants are less likely to report a disability than the native-born populations in both locations. Among recent Dominican immigrants, those in the mainland United States report lower levels of disability than those in Puerto Rico, suggesting a more robust pattern of health selection among the former group. However, prolonged US residence is associated with a larger negative health change for immigrants in the mainland than in Puerto Rico. These results highlight the importance of initial health selection and the influence of the destination environment on immigrants' health.