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It’s time to unpack the phrase “Illegal Alien”
UConn Daily Campus ^ | September 5, 2017 | by Amar Batra

Posted on 09/05/2017 7:14:39 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

... Close your eyes for a second and imagine the term “alien”. What comes to mind? Probably something not human. Now throw the word “illegal” in front of it. What do you get? Who knows, maybe an alien in a prison jumpsuit. Can you see what I’m getting at?

Calling somebody an illegal alien should never be the wording that you use. Not because it’s not “politically correct” but because those two words completely dehumanize the situation that these people are in and the hardships they have endured.

We don’t call people who come to the U.S. via the legal channels “legal aliens” we call them Americans. They gave up their old lives in order to work for a better life in the United States. We honor that commitment by treating them like human beings and giving them rights. Shouldn’t that liberty apply to everyone?

At the end of the day, every single undocumented immigrant in this country is a person. Can we all agree that? Which means they can’t be illegal. No human being is illegal. And just like no human being can be illegal, no human being can be alien.

Calling immigrants illegal aliens makes it very easy to see them differently for yourself. It allows people to dehumanize them and make them seem like some kind threatening population. Immigration reform is one of the largest human rights challenges of our time. Without knowledge of them being undocumented, every single one of these immigrants is a member of our community just trying to make their lives better. Where I come from, we try and help members of our community not force them out.

Immigrants are people, undocumented or not. Let’s actually treat them as people, in words and in actions. It’s the human thing to do.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailycampus.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: border; globalism; illegalaliens; illegals; invasion
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To: showme_the_Glory; Liz

About your tag line...

I was born in New Zealand, a western close ally to America...

I was in the US military when I became an American citizen...

My brother was in the NZ navy on a ship patrolling the China Sea aiding the American ships and participating in Coral Sea Days..

I had NZ cousins fighting with Americans in Vietnam...

But to become an American citizen I had to raise my right hand and denounce/renounce my allegiance with NZ...I had to swear it...

I could not become an American citizen while I was still tied to another country in any way....there is no such thing as “dual citizenship” our immigration laws do not allow for such an animal...

For the 30 days between casting off my NZ nationalization and being granted American citizenship I was a girl with no country...

My NZ passport was now invalid and I had to surrender it..only my Alien Registration Card AKA green card was my accepted ID ...I did have a drivers license but that wasn’t as strong as my green card..

I couldn’t leave the country during those 30 days since I didn’t have a passport, but I was legally in this country and “documented” with my Alien Registration Card...

I wish people understood just how important that card is and why the so called dreamers should never have received them ...

immigration is not a silly political ploy game ...


81 posted on 09/05/2017 7:55:02 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“What do you get”!? An illegal alien. I would rather have real “aliens” from another planet. They could save us the transportation costs of shipping ours back home. Free spaceship rides!


82 posted on 09/05/2017 7:55:03 AM PDT by albie
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Calling someone an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling shoplifting an “undocumented purchase.”


83 posted on 09/05/2017 7:55:14 AM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: x

Good point. Besides immigrant, I could have added tourist or visitor I suppose.


84 posted on 09/05/2017 7:55:33 AM PDT by MileHi (Liberalism is an ideology of parasites, hypocrites, grievance mongers, victims, and control freaks.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Or people might just need to learn what the word actually means instead of dreaming up a meaning in their head. We used to expect people to look up words they didn’t know.

Alien | Definition of Alien by Merriam-Webster

Definition of alien. 1a : belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing : strange; an alien environment b : relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government : foreign alien residents c : exotic 1 alien plants.


85 posted on 09/05/2017 7:56:32 AM PDT by Tammy8 (Please be a regular supporter of Free Republic !)
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To: Wonder Warthog
Next, they will complain that "green cards" are demeaning and creates "second-class citizens" of people who aren't citizens in the first place.

-PJ

86 posted on 09/05/2017 7:57:30 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
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To: GreenHornet

I’m an “undocumented immigrant” as I sit here...

Look Ma no pockets...


87 posted on 09/05/2017 7:57:49 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: libertylover

Illegal aliens are not immigrants of any kind...they don’t IMMIGRATE...


88 posted on 09/05/2017 7:59:41 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

If you can’t change the facts, just change the words around...


89 posted on 09/05/2017 8:05:50 AM PDT by Professional
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"Illegal Alien.... Those two words completely dehumanize the situation that these people are in and the hardships they have endured."

Well now...that's real tough titty.. Maybe they should have stayed in their own country so they wouldn't have such a hard life here in the U.S.A...

90 posted on 09/05/2017 8:10:11 AM PDT by unread (Joe McCarthy was right.......)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

This writer should look up the word “alien” before opening his gob. There are 5 meanings, 4 of which refer to people and only 1 refers to someone from outer space. Such BS!


91 posted on 09/05/2017 8:12:41 AM PDT by New Jersey Realist (Be Nice To Your Kids. They Will Pick Out Your Nursing Home)
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To: a fool in paradise

“it’s time” == I’m 22”

I was tickled to find some graphic tee shirts in a Rubbermaid tub the other day, in good shape but older than your esteemed self.

I was working on Labor day. I worked my fingers to the bones.
My parents put me to work when I was 9 weeks old
mining coal. I didn’t actually mine it. I sat on a rail in my rag diaper with other infants and we kicked the big chunks into a special rail car, and we were paid 3 cents an hour.

Series, I too am tired of hearing these sob stories from these people. I did work yesterday and I have worked my *** off for over 50 years. I didn’t break any laws while doing it either.

OK, I did strangle a coworker for stealing my lunch. But I was drunk.


92 posted on 09/05/2017 8:21:47 AM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Stupid.

The legal term is ‘illegal alien’.

Period.


93 posted on 09/05/2017 8:22:45 AM PDT by GOPJ (Pelosi didn't 'disavow' Antifa FAST ENOUGH - shove a mic in Pelosi's face 200 more times MSNBC.)
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To: jospehm20

ROFL

“We don’t call people who come to the U.S. via the legal channels “legal aliens” we call them Americans.”

I’m not thrilled with the alien word ‘alien’, but I’d rather call them that than call them ‘Americans’ if they are ‘undocumented border crossers’.


94 posted on 09/05/2017 8:22:46 AM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March (Ever since Civil War, DNC = terrorists: KKK, black panthers; muslim refugees, BLM ...)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“Amar Batra.” Indian name.

A lot of older conservatives probably don’t understand that the massive influx of Asians into our universities is a large factor driving the new PC on campus. Most young Asians buy into anti-white multi-culturalism. It benefits them to push whites aside. Asians come from cultures that have zero respect for free speech and other “rights” and carry those values with them into America. They are not assimilating in any meaningful sense.

Indians are especially bad. They come from a tribal society where ruthless power struggles between factions are part of daily life. Indians really embrace anti-white ideology with enthusiasm. Indian Hindus vote for the Democrats at a higher rate than any group other than blacks do. Indian immigration needs to be stopped completely.


95 posted on 09/05/2017 8:25:23 AM PDT by WatchungEagle
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To: tumblindice

I’m pointing out that the author of this (a senior in college) is likely no older than 22 and has been fed a talking point his whole conscious life.


96 posted on 09/05/2017 8:36:29 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
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To: jospehm20

In fact we do use the word “aliens” for those who come legally.

Internal Revenue Code Sec. 7701(b)

(b) Definition of resident alien and nonresident alien.
(1) In general.
For purposes of this title:
(A) Resident alien. An alien individual shall be treated as a resident of the United States with respect to any calendar year if (and only if) such individual meets the requirements of clause (i), (ii) , or (iii) :

(i) Lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Such individual is a lawful permanent resident of the United States at any time during such calendar year.
(ii) Substantial presence test. Such individual meets the substantial presence test of paragraph (3).
(iii) First year election. Such individual makes the election provided in paragraph (4).

(B) Nonresident alien. An individual is a nonresident alien if such individual is neither a citizen of the United States nor a resident of the United States (within the meaning of subparagraph (A) ).


97 posted on 09/05/2017 8:42:54 AM PDT by sasherm13
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"...At the end of the day, every single undocumented immigrant in this country is a person. Can we all agree that? Which means they can’t be illegal. No human being is illegal. And just like no human being can be illegal, no human being can be alien..."

This is why I have simply stopped talking to these people.

I could think that he/she/it doesn't know the difference in context between "illegal" and "alien" when used in immigration terms versus humanistic terms, but I know this person likely full well knows the difference in context.

98 posted on 09/05/2017 8:52:41 AM PDT by rlmorel (Those who sit on the picket fence are impaled by it.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
How about "Wetback?"

It's time-tested, and can't be manipulated to confuse people.

99 posted on 09/05/2017 8:59:50 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Mr. Batra is just too stupid to be enrolled in college. Methinks he needs to go back to sixth grade. a·li·en (ˈālēən/) adjective 1. belonging to a foreign country or nation. noun 1. a foreigner, especially one who is not a naturalized citizen of the country where they are living. "an illegal alien" synonyms: foreigner, nonnative, immigrant, emigrant, émigré
100 posted on 09/05/2017 9:03:29 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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