Immigration Reform
Satyika Rayamajhi
West Coast University
PHIL341: Critical Reasoning
Professor: Michael Cook
Date: May 8
Abstract
The paper covers immigration reforms and the various aspect it brings to society. The argument that supports immigration and the benefits it brings to society is outlined in the paper also the counterarguments, the fallacies related to immigration, and the way people take these fallacies about immigration. The bias that is related to the cultural and social difference between natives and immigrants is also pointed out in the report. The rhetorical devices that are related to immigration have been used by our leaders to help us understand immigration from a different perspective.
Introduction
Immigration possesses an ongoing debate where people are concerned if immigration is beneficial or not to society. This paper will be examining the benefits and counterarguments concerning immigration. Immigration can be beneficial in society if it is well accepted within the different communities and ethnic groups in the country. These arguments about immigration have led to the change in policies regarding immigration making it difficult to gain access to certain countries. This is due to fear and the misunderstanding that is brought by people in society. The fallacies related to immigration are the various factors that will be discussed in this report.
Those in favor of immigration have the belief that immigration has enriched the culture of the host nation or society and has provided numerous benefits to the overall country. Immigration leads to cross-cultural integration this is through the increase of ethnic variety within a society. The increase in diversity helps in increasing and improving the society as well as improving learning in individuals (Richards, 2018). This also means there is an increase in skill development, this is where there is a learning opportunity for people to interact and get to understand the difference in how things are done in various cultures. This helps one adjust their ways of operation to be able to fit in the society. Immigration can be beneficial because there will be an improvement in tax payment within the country that will lead to an increase in wages increase.
Arguments and Counterarguments
Being controversial topic immigration has a conflicting opinions from various people across the global scale. People believe that immigration takes away or manipulates the original culture and tradition of a given society this is where the introduction of new ways and behaviors causes an unwanted change in the society that many people do not like. The perspective is that immigration brings a bad influence on society hence, traditions are forgotten and people follow new ways of life (Ma & Hofmann, 2019). Traditions have changed in marriage, technology, and many other aspects related to the mode of living in society. They argue that various countries especially the state have cultures that hurt the society that causes a change in behavior within the society. Some say that immigration is the root of crime where they equate the immigrants to having brought terrorism into the county.
The argument is based on immigrants posing a unique threat due to terrorist attacks. Terrorism is not the modern means of war various cases of bombing and terrorism attacks have been reported in the early century, most committed by immigrants and socialists. Today attacks from terrorism and death committed by immigrants are greater than in the past (Ma & Hofmann, 2019). Overall immigration is not correlated with terrorism and the risk of being killed by a foreign-born terrorist is minimal. An example is an annual chance of being killed in a terror attack that has been planned by a foreigner is about one in a million. Almost 98 percent of people murdered by an immigrant on US soil were murdered and most of these attackers did not enter the country through immigrant visas instead they used tourism or student visas to gain passage into the country.
Evaluation of Critical Thinking
Cognitive bias is divided into various categories. Ingroup bias is related to the miss understanding and the lack of the ability to speak fluent English which makes them separated from the rest of the group (Gönültaş & Mulvey, 2020). These individuals are tagged as the out-group who are the immigrants as opposed to the in-group who are the native of the host country. The group that appears to be less familiar with the culture and the lack of assimilation into American culture makes them be taken as the out-group.
Cognitive bias is based on the ability to integrate and find your way into the culture of the society that one is associated with. Backfire is another form of confirmation bias where one is too defensive in their opinions and strives to defend regardless of the changes and ideological mix that surrounds the concept (Gönültaş & Mulvey, 2020). Challenging information causes a threat to the learner’s sense of identity which makes it harder to understand or try to process the new information that is being relayed to an individual.
The fallacies that are related to immigration include; the immigrants are required to do the jobs that the natives will not do. This is taken as the native workers will not be able to do the hard work or the difficult work. That this kind of work is reserved for immigrant employees who come to seek work in their native countries (Kurajian, 2018). These jobs are event distributed regardless of your status on immigration the native will work on construction jobs while the immigrants can also work in offices and perform executive work. These kinds of fallacies are misleading society causing bias among the citizens. For instance, in West Virginia where immigrants the same job description is performed by the American workers.
Another fallacy that is related to immigration is that low-skilled immigrants were a benefit in the past they must be beneficial in this current error. The argument is related to technology and the political changes that have occurred in the past bringing changes to society. Technology has taken over and has made work easier by taking care of the heavy work. Slavery was practiced in the past and in current times rules and policies regarding labor have changed. These fallacies should not be misleading individuals anymore.
Barack Obama used rhetorical devices such as water and storm to illustrate the process of immigration is a continuous factor in life and it won’t be reduced or changed any time soon (Kjeldsen, 2019). Water in his speech represents the young generation that will be coming in for learning opportunities to be able to diversify and explore the various opportunities that are available during their learning process. Immigration is a continuous process that will keep happening. It is our responsibility to make the best of it.
Conclusion
The research explores the various immigration reforms and the misunderstandings that it brings to the people. Immigration is an important factor in a country since it brings more advantages than demerits to the society and economy in general. Diversity is key to the development and growth of a nation. This could be through trading, learning, or supporting others during difficult times. Learn to support one another and coordinate to ensure we work as a team to overcome challenges that we face in our daily encounters. Immigration brings different opportunities that need to be taken to ensure we are successful in all sectors of life.
References
Gönültaş, S., & Mulvey, K. L. (2020). The Role of Immigration Background, Intergroup Processes, and Social‐Cognitive Skills in Bystanders’ Responses to Bias‐Based Bullying Toward Immigrants During Adolescence. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13476
Kjeldsen, J. E. (2019). Royal Interventions in the Public Discourse on Immigration: Rhetorical Topoi on Immigration in the New Year’s Speeches of the Scandinavian Monarchs. Javnost – the Public, 26(2), 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2019.1587702
Kurajian, O. A. (2018). Debunking the Narratives of Inclusion: Immigration Policy in Quebec, Canada, and the United States in the Age of Trump. Undergraduate Review, 14(2), 68–75. https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol14/iss2/11/
Ma, G., & Hofmann, E. T. (2019). Immigration and environment in the U.S.: A spatial study of air quality. The Social Science Journal, 56(1), 94–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2018.08.007
Richards, T. J. (2018). Immigration Reform and Farm Labor Markets. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 100(4), 1050–1071. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aay027
