Written immigration policies VS actual lived experiences
Madaminova Zoxidaxon
31/08/2026
This paper presents a comparison of the policies toward Central Asian migrants in Russia and the US and explores some of the realities that these migrant workers experience based on both personal experience as an Uzbek immigrant and the use of scholastic and journalistic sources that indicate legal safeguards offered by such policies (e.g.. CIS Agreement, EAEU Framework and US policies such as the F-1 Visa, FLEX and Muskie) cannot stop widespread mistreatment, exploitation and discrimination against migrant workers. The main contention of this research paper is that the social dehumanisation of migrant workers is, in large part, responsible for connecting policy to actual lived experiences of migrant workers. This academic paper develops four psychological perspectives to clarify why many people in the host country dehumanise migrant workers; these include: (1) insecure attachment and a lack of empathy, (2) generational trauma, (3) scapegoating/group fantasy, and (4) moral exclusion. This paper also presents a number of case examples that illustrate how the aforementioned psychological constructs are displayed in daily events associated with migrant workers. These case examples address the exploitation of migrant workers in the workplace, housing, harassment in exchange programs, and public humiliation because of language barriers to illustrate how these psychological constructs are demonstrated in everyday life. In addition to providing evidence to support the relationship between dehumanisation and migrant worker policy, this research provides evidence of ongoing effects of dehumanising policies on migrant workers (e.g., poor mental health, reluctance to access social service institutions, poor cultural identity). Ultimately, the paper posits that dehumanising migrants is an unfortunate consequence of both migrant policy and migrant experience and provides recommendations for future research on intergenerational trauma, developing empathy, and seeking accountability in migration and exchange programmes.