Emotional and Affective Consequences of Institutional Restrictions on Population Mobility

Social institutions play a key role in the affective experience of international migrants since population mobility is highly regulated. Whether crossing a border, joining the labor market, or attempting to develop a sense of belonging, immigrants face multiple restrictions that compromise their emotional well-being. Based on an extensive review of recent publications in this field of research (Ariza, 2024), this paper highlights the emotional implications of three key social institutions for the migratory experience of border crossers: 1) the state and the global governance of migration, 2) labor markets, 3) and family and school as primary areas of social interaction. Whereas at the macro level, the tension between securitization and humanitarianism elicits the antithetical emotions of fear and compassion, in the other social domains (labor markets, family, and school), affective ambivalence and disaffection pervade the emotional experience of international immigrants, jeopardizing their sense of belonging and their possibilities of social integration. Despair, anxiety, depletion and uncertainty coexist with hope and intersubjective solidarity. Immigrants creatively resist the multiple processes of affective dislocation, repositioning themselves socially, morally and emotionally.