Migration and Xenophobia.
Narratives of Migration and Xenophobia
The impact of trauma across generations.
The collective stories shared by immigrants are mostly driven by insecurities around economics, personal safety or national security, culture and identity. I will focus on the individual and collective repercussions of historical events that induced and aggravated anxiety.
According to 2021 Migration Policy Institute publication “New Report Examines How Immigration Narratives Take Hold”:
The stickiest negative narratives about migration are often interwoven with perceived threats […] even if these threats are not well supported by data. Migrants competing with citizens for jobs was a narrative theme found to some extent in all case-study countries, regardless of the health of their labor market (MPI, 2021).
The global migration crisis left many feeling insecure about accepting migrants from across the globe. The increase number of asylum seekers are perceived as a threat to the host country and the number newcomers being admitted are facing increased psychological distress and the experience of being othered. We are at a tipping point where narratives of displacement must be shared and addressed from a psychological and humanitarian perspective.
In my research “Homecoming in Liminal Times: Depth Psychological Perspectives on the Experience of Immigration”, I interviewed recent migrants from Eastern and Western cultures and the five main themes that emerged were: loss, emotional challenges and distress, identity changes, discrimination, sense of belonging in two-cultures.
“The loss of being in a known environment with established structures generated insecurity, frustration, sadness, isolation, or loneliness. The difficulty of establishing a social group or intimate relationships—especially in the first year or two—increased participants’ sense of not belonging” (Nadia K. Thalji, 2018).
Image from the Washington Post January 2017.
The first interview was held in January 27, 2017, the first day of the enforcement of anti-immigration executive order (No. 13769) titled: “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”. The order banned for 90 days the entry into the US of individuals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Iraq was later removed from the initial list. The ban was directed specifically to Muslim majority countries. In this period, the increased anti-Mexican sentiments was also in place.
All participants reported being discriminated against, both racially and ethnically, in their interactions with Americans (Thalji, N.K. p.72).
I will conclude saying that the the historical context of increased xenophobic policies and procedures and the increase of White Supremacy in the US calls for:
Societal responses to the collective trauma on anti-immigration policies and procedures and the individual responses to these these external events.(Thalji, N. K. p.149).
The impact of immigration is experienced both intrapsychically and externally. From a psychological perspective, traumatizing historical events induce and aggravates anxiety. It implies multiple losses and the disruption of one’s sense of identity and belonging. For this reason, the trauma of immigration has individual and collective repercussions. The descendants experience the impact of cumulative traumatic events that reverberates across generations.