ABSTRACT
In this chapter we present a discussion and analysis of one of the most vexing social problems – immigration – and how its dynamics affect the array of vulnerabilities and risks for the development of mental health problems among immigrant populations in the United States. Immigration is a multifaceted social phenomenon whose processes thread through most micro and macro aspects of the fabric of human experience. Individuals, families, and communities anchor the exchanges between sending and receiving nation-states. Social, political, and economic forces that operate locally, nationally, regionally, and globally, channel immigration flows. The profound dislocation of “place” that immigration involves reverberates throughout the fabric of human experience in ways that powerfully affect mental health.
