Thread: The term "illegal alien" vs "illegal immigran

A news reporter told me:
""The news media came up with the terms "illegal immigrant" and "undocumented immigrant" because those terms are less offensive than "illegal alien". She also said "Many newspapers and medias computers "Spell Check" actually changes the word "alien" to "immigrant" automatically.""

So I looked up the terms under federal law.

The term "alien" is defined and used in federal immigration laws.

Reference to federal law: [url][url]http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.f6da51a2342135be7e9d7a10e0dc91a0/?vgnextoid=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCR D&vgnextchannel=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd19 0aRCRD&CH=act

In part, under: IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT \ INA: ACT 101 - DEFINITIONS
Sec. 101. [8 U.S.C. 1101] (a) As used in this Act-
(3) The term "alien" means any person not a citizen or national of the United States.
(6) The term "border crossing identification card" means a document of identity bearing that designation issued to an alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or to an alien who is a resident in foreign contiguous territory, by a consular officer or an immigration officer for the purpose of crossing over the borders between the United States and foreign contiguous territory in accordance with such conditions for its issuance and use as may be prescribed by regulations. Such regulati ons shall provide that (A) each such document include a biometric identifier (such as the fingerprint or handprint of the alien) that is machine readable and (B) an alien presenting a border crossing identification is not permitted to cross over the border into the United States unless the biometric identifier contained on the card matches the appropriate biometric characteristic of the alien.

Since "alien" is used in federal law, I recommend the use of "illegal alien" instead of "illegal immigrant".

Americans for Legal Immigration should not use leftist media terminology on it's web sites and printed material when referring to illegals.

Pursuant to federal law, the term "illegal alien" is the proper term to use to identify any person not a citizen or national of the United States.

See you in Phoenix on June 12th.

"Illegal alien" is correct and refers to someone from any country who has entered the US unlawfully for any purpose. In fact statements from the US State Department itself has identified illegal aliens from some countries as a "Danger" and the Congress has mandated no distinction based upon their country of origin. All aliens here illegally are illegal aliens.

Originally Posted by ArizonaCowboy

A news reporter told me:
""The news media came up with the terms "illegal immigrant" and "undocumented immigrant" because those terms are less offensive than "illegal alien".

The term "illegal immigrant" is highly offensive to legal immigrants, especially since half the time the media leaves the "illegal" part off. Seems the media cares more about offending foreign criminals than they do law abiding future and current citizens.

The other commonly spread falsehood by the liberal media is that being in the country illegally is not a crime but a civil violation.

It is actually both. The Government usually chooses to prosecute illegals civilly instead of criminally because they do not have to be Mirandized if it is a civil arrest, and because of jail space concerns and resources. That doesn't mean that it isn't also a criminal offense too, 8 USC 1325.