Illegal Immigration Case Study

In the United States alone, there are over 12 million people who are considered to be illegal immigrants (cis.org). According the Center of Immigration Studies, “The unauthorized resident immigrant population is defined as all foreign-born non-citizens who are not legal residents. Most unauthorized residents either entered the United States without inspection or were admitted temporarily and stayed past the date they were required to leave. . ."(cis.org). The impediments of critical thinking have immersed themselves into our judgments, values, and decisions, subsequently creating bias in our culture. Undoubtedly, perspective is strongly influenced by these impediments, which in turn, can prevent one from thinking rationally and potentially cloud one’s

I tend to be opposed to any information that does not confirm my own beliefs or self-interests and I tend to make judgments based solely on my personal well-being, rather than the good of American society as a whole. My ego created this depiction of illegal immigrants being similar to my family and I love my family. This blocked me from seeing negative consequences that comes with being illegal in America. For example, apparently wages are lowered for low-skilled workers when undocumented residents become a “liability.” Though that may be the case, my egocentrism will not allow me to attach negativity to these innocent people.

The “us-versus-them” impediment also comes into play here. Xenophobia isolates everyone that is from a foreign country into their own group. People who belong to this group have a predisposition to negative stigma that comes with being a foreigner. When discussing illegal immigration, I would include myself in both the “us” and “them” group, but the polarization of the two forces me to choose the side that I relate to more. This aspect did help me engage more critically when coming to a decision regarding where I would stand in the