Immigration: The “Illegal Alien” Problem

ABSTRACT

The present paper explores the “immigration crisis” both in the United States and in countries around the world. Consideration is given to what is typically absent in public discourse—that is, that immigration is inflected with race, class, ethnicity, religion, and language. Drawing on the work of several leading scholars in philosophy and linguistics, with particular attention to how metaphor shapes thinking, the “immigration problem” is unpacked to examine the issues embedded within its characterization as a “crisis” and for whom that might be so. Examined as well are the larger sociopolitical issues beyond the worldwide public outcry about securing borders. The paper rests analysis of both how the immigrant “other” is characterized and the larger sociopsychological significance of that characterization within the idea of the social unconscious. Finally, the paper explores the role of the group analyst as “citizen therapist” in expanding empathic engagement among groups affected by the huge migration flows. Included are recommendations for the role the group analyst may play in addressing the issue of immigration in our groups and communities.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the careful reading and generous suggestions made by mycolleagues Shuki Cohen, Dominick Grundy, and Joshua Nelson and to the editors of this special issue.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nina Thomas

Nina Thomas is a faculty member and supervisor at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalsyis and Chair of the Advanced Specialization in Trauma and Disaster Studies there.  She is in private practice with adults, couples and groups in New York City and Morristown, NJ.