Professor Medha D. Makhlouf signs book deal with Cambridge University Press for forthcoming monograph

CARLISLE, Pa.—Professor Medha D. Makhlouf has signed a book deal with Cambridge University Press for her forthcoming monograph, tentatively titled Health Justice for Migrants: Law as a Social Determinant of Health.

The book highlights the role of law in shaping access to health care for immigrants in the United States. Health and immigration are, separately, two of the most polarized domains of law and politics. Given this context, it is not surprising that the issue of noncitizen access to subsidized health care has long been the centerpiece of opposition to inclusive health care and immigration policies.

Health Justice for Migrants will reframe a longstanding, yet unproductive, public debate about whether migrants “deserve” to receive subsidized health care, a debate that has historically ebbed and flowed with cyclical nativism. By illuminating how and why U.S. laws have limited noncitizens’ access to health care, the book raises a key question: Are the reasons for these exclusions just?

Makhlouf proposes a new way to think about these issues by applying a normative framework for identifying and interpreting laws that perpetuate health inequity. In doing so, she offers a new vision of law as a determinant of migrant health and a tool for advancing health justice for all.

Cambridge University Press, founded in 1534, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious university presses in the world. Its reputation for high-quality publishing and its global audience have contributed to its sustainability over nearly five centuries. Book proposals undergo rigorous peer review and an internal voting process before an offer is made.

Professor Medha D. Makhlouf is the Elsie de R. and Samuel P. Orlando Distinguished Professor and founding director of the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic at Penn State Dickinson Law. She has a joint appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine. Professor Makhlouf’s research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of health law, immigrants’ rights, and poverty law and policy. Her recent scholarship has been published in the Boston University Law Review, New York University Law Review, and the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law & Ethics. Professor Makhlouf is currently writing a book, tentatively titled Health Justice for Migrants, which is under contract with Cambridge University Press.