Lost in the Fog: Immigrants and Refugees, Bureaucrats and Activists

Peter Skerry

doi:10.1515/for-2019-0029

Article

Lost in the Fog: Immigrants and Refugees, Bureaucrats and Activists

Peter Skerry
Peter Skerry teaches political science at Boston College, and is a member of the editorial board of The Forum and a contributing editor to The American Interest.

Published/Copyright: November 11, 2019

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From the journal The Forum Volume 17 Issue 3

Abstract

At least since Emma Lazarus’s famous sonnet became associated with the Statue of Liberty, Americans have confounded important differences between immigrants and refugees. Cold War politics contributed further to that misapprehension. In recent years the continuing crisis at our southern border has rendered this confusion more evident and problematic. At the same time, a global refugee crisis of genuinely historic proportions has been unfolding. More than ever, it is critical to delineate carefully between the needs of refugees and the preferences of immigrants. Yet now there are strong counter-pressures at work, blurring critical distinctions between these two categories. These are particularly evident in the international political arena, where the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is highly susceptible to pressure from the media, academics, and activists to once again confound the two.

About the author

Peter Skerry

Peter Skerry teaches political science at Boston College, and is a member of the editorial board of The Forum and a contributing editor to The American Interest.

Published Online: 2019-11-11

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https://doi.org/10.1515/for-2019-0029