refugee: an exile who flees for safety
exile: 1. Voluntarily absent from home or country
2. Expelled from home or country by authority
3.The act of expelling a person from their native land
I don't understand why people are so resistant to the word 'refugee'. It is not demeaning in any way, and it doesn't make you any less American. It aptly describes those who have been expelled from their homes.
As for the crime rising because of the sudden influx of new people---it concerns me too. There's more than 25,000 sitting downtown and elsewhere with lots of time on their hands. If only a small percentage are criminal, that's still a serious situation.
"...I don't understand why people are so resistant to the word 'refugee'. It is not demeaning in any way, and it doesn't make you any less American. It aptly describes those who have been expelled from their homes..."
I am resistant to the word "refugee" being used in this context because:
As a US Citizen, I consider the entire United States of America my native land. And those who seek refuge are not necessarily "refugees"... someone who flees to find safety from oppression or persecution from political upheaval. Usually to a foreign country. (the most common usage of the word refugee.) If a person seeks refuge (shelter)from a storm, they are not refugees.
You'll forgive me for my 10 years in a Catholic school with nuns who were sticklers on parsing words and conjugating sentences. I retain this odd habit even after 50 years.
Also I do not believe the word "refugee" is demeaning. My own grandparents fled an oppressive government to become citizens of the US.