do you agree that...?

Question

the word "immigrant" has received a silent "illegal" before it on this site?

let me explain

if i posted a question asking, "do you love immigrants?"

i would probably receive many responses similar to "no, they broke the law, they need to go home."

but notice i never once used the word "illegal"

so back to my question, why has it come to the point where almost everyone on "yahoo answers" thinks the word "immigrant" now means "illegal immigrant?"

in case people have not noticed, this is the "immigration" forum which means questions are open for both illegal and legal immigration topics

but for a long time, i've seen so many jump to the conclusion that "immigrant" means "illegal immigrant" and the question was therefore completely taken out of context

please, give me your thoughts

Answer 1

It's funny because then they'll go into this crap. . . . .example. . . ."I only love LEGAL immigrants, I HATE illegals, they should all be deported to Mexico. blah blah blah. I hate little illegal Mexican girls, they are like alqueda terrorists. Illegals rape and kill everyone. they steal our jobs and the are all racist mexicans. . . . . ."


and the hate goes on. So i think when they hear "immigrant" they assume "illegal" and they assume "Mexican."

Answer 2

our language means nothing anymore. you destroy the language you destroy the culture. the united states isn't the first country to go down. there are many words other than immigrant that have been destroyed in the last few years that stem from white house sound bites.

some smart guy once said "a house divided can not stand". our government is currently in the business of dividing us so we can't stand. welcome to the death of a nation.

please don't consider yahoo answers as the only place this is happening. our leaders from both camps have gotten stuck in an immigration mire -- they came up with a convoluted amnesty program that needed to be shot down because we need comprehensive immigration reform and not a bunch of bureaucratic goop for handling people that are already here. that they got here without a comprehensive immigration program shows an obvious flaw that nobody is discussing. that they still come in on a daily basis shows how big problem really is. in a big picture our government has gone on permanent vacation. they are in the business of doing nothing. "illegal immigrant" was an invention of the government's propaganda to avoid the actual problem of the illegal corporation that hires immigrants without papers. in the 20th century nobody discussed "illegal immigrants" -- or wmds, or jihads, or any number of words thrown out to make the government look like it is doing something when it is doing nothing.

i think i got lost in my arguement somewhere -- the point was that the government has created a disaster and they themselves have created the death of the word immigration in favor of words like amensty and illegal immigrant. that people are lemmings and fall for sound bites from the white house aired 40 times a day on every major news outlet on everyones favorite big screen hdtv shouldn't surprise you.

Answer 3

I totally disagree with any borders dividing any countries.
Why?
Because in this modern day and age where we have television and newspapers and so much media coverage, it is made obvious that no matter what Bills are passed or whatever charity runs there are to save refugees, the modern world is besieged with people who are having to live a life which the rest of us believe we can pass judgement on their efforts to change for the better.
Legal immigrants spend years trying to convince the authorities to let them through, whereas illegal immigrants get in anyway.
Anyone notice how many Brits come over the the States and stay? Being white nobody takes that much notice of them - but they are frequently illegal immigrants.

Answer 4

I don't agree.

Yes - there are some that think that. But if you look at the questions posted, most of the answers will state that they have no issue with immigrants, as long as they are legally here in this country.

But I also think that those that are for the illegal immigrants tend to post questions without the word "illegal" in front of it to try and get the ones that are anti illegal to look like they are racists. So I think that shoe fits on both feet here.

Answer 5

In Mexico and ALL other countries, guests fall into two major categories:

1) Invited (welcome)
2) Uninvited (unwelcome)

Immigrants ALSO fall into two major categories:

1) Invited (legal and welcome)
2) Uninvited (illegal and unwelcome)

This is the way it is in Mexico and ALL other sovereign countries.

People have built up frustrations about the major topic of immigration. These millions of economic refugees are leaving the country of their birth out of economic frustration and economic desperation.

The people of the United States see an overwhelming influx of undereducated poor people and they are put ill at ease about the magnitude of it all.

They know that the MAJORITY of these new faces are here ILLEGALLY.

This is why they automatically focus on the sub-category of immigrants that are ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

You are making the perfect case for the "legal" term "illegal alien" in order to avoid confusing the two distinct groups with one another.

There is no other group of people who resent illegal aliens more than the people all over the rest of the world who DESPERATELY want to come here TOO and are playing by the rules and doing it LEGALLY, but have to wait years for the process to move forward mainly because we are being overrun by ILLEGAL ALIENS.

There is nothing racist against Mexicans for the most part.

If Turkey or Poland were where Mexico is, we would be venting our frustrations against the millions of ILLEGAL ALIENS coming across the border from Turkey or Poland.

Answer 6

The reason for this is..... The media (trying to cater to the ILLEGALS) and the Pro amnesty groups and the illegals use the term Immigrants for illegals and legals alike. I know what your are saying though. This country is a melting pot and I believe that illegals should have to go through the proper channels to immigrate to this country just like everyone else. I am extremely glad the immigration bill did not pass the senate!!!

Answer 7

Don't let this bother you.It is so typical of people on this site.Every time I ask a question about immigrants in general,someone always feels the need to go into this long,drawn out soliloquy about the illegals even though my question had nothing to do with them.

Answer 8

You are right! I have seen it repeatably. People in here relate immigrants with illegal.
Once they hear immigrants, they also associate it with Mexicans.
They should be able to differentiate legal and illegal.

Answer 9

I think that people ARE aware of the difference between 'legal' and 'illegal'. It's just that when they try to answer questions, they try to twist the meanings to lure votes for their own party. I've seen it happen many times and I'm not sure that many are aware of what they write between the lines. Many ARE able to see right through what others write.

Answer 10

Yes. I used to assume that 'immigrant' meant 'legal' and could never mean 'illegal', but it is used to mean 'illegal' here so much that on THIS site, I do tend to read it that way, now.