Challenges of immigration
Types of reasoning
Immigration is an emotive issue which has shaped the America’s political and social discourse. This paper explores the approaches that the authors in the two articles have used to develop their arguments. The articles include bumps along the path to citizenship by Peter Skerry. On the other hand, the second article is winning the next immigration battle by Edward Alden. In his article, Alden highlights president Obama’s priority which include reforming immigration laws to lessen the struggle by immigrants to get required documentation. In the past, immigrants have not been able to get documents which would legalize their stay in the United States. The failure by Congress to pass an immigration reform control act of 1986 frustrated the desire by interest groups to legitimize immigration law (Alden, 2013). In this regard, Alden employs an inductive reasoning to appeal to the audience on the subject of immigration. On the hand, Skerry (2013) employs a deductive reasoning in her approach to this problem. By stating that president Obama and the members of the Democratic Party are making attempts to make straight paths for immigrants to obtain documentation.
Skerry (2013) questions the possibility of collecting tax proceeds from illegal immigrants and workers without skilled personnel vis-à-vis the costs of collecting the taxes. The author argues that it would be difficult to trace work histories among people who work in the informal settlement and largely undocumented. The author concludes that proponents of immigration reforms within the Republican Party depend on administrative state. There is a misguided scepticism regarding the immigration policy in the United States. The subject of illegal immigration raises anxiety among American people. In this regard, addressing the immigration problem would require a careful and well-thought plan to ensure that the Republicans do not lose an important political base occasioned by republican-leaning immigrants.
On the other hand, Alden (2013) reports that the population of immigrants hit 12 million in 2008. The increase in the population after the failed enactment of the immigration bill confirm a greater commitment by immigrants to seek asylum in the country. The author recognizes the greater political constituency that these immigrants represents. Currently, 11 million people in the country lack important authorization. The centrality of immigration reform in the life of immigrants cannot be gainsaid. The author added that these reforms should not qualify for a second chance.
Fallacies in each argument
Skerry begins her work by stating that the president and the members of his party have indicated that the immigration laws should be made clear. This statement is fallacious because not all members of the Democratic Party are satisfied with comprehensive immigration reforms. The author further observes that the anxiety surrounding immigration laws is a matter of interest for republicans. This proposition is debatable given that the Republican Party ideology has been premised on enhancing stringent immigration policies. Alden advances the argument that the promise of an immigration largely depends on how Americans would answer the question on the reason they believe in the immigration policy and reforms. It is clear that the success of this policy depends on the political goodwill of the people’s representatives in the Congress. In this regard, it is incumbent upon both sides of the political divide to come together and agree on a solid framework for the development and implementation of the immigration policy.
References
Alden, E. (2013, February 11). Winning the next immigration Battle. Foreign Affairs.
Retrieved from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2013-02-11/winning-next-immigration-battle?page=show
Skerry, P. (2013, February 25). Bumps along the Path to Citizenship. The Weekly Standard.
Retrieved from http://www.weeklystandard.com/article/bumps-along-path-citizenship/701320?nopager=1
