Do you believe an immigrant is same as illegal alien?

Question

there seems to be attempt by some to blur the lines between the two. Please tell us the difference between a legal law abiding immigrant as the USA has been built on, and an illegal non-law abiding alien.

Answer 1

The ones that want to blur the differences are the ones that want to give a pass to the illegals and then call all who question the difference, racist

Answer 2

A legal law abiding immigrant is one that has eithered entered the US with a visa, either a temporary (student, visitor, etc.) or a permanent (green card). By immigration law definition, an immigrant is someone who is making an attempt to either enter the US legally or is in the US and is attempting to gain legal status.

An illegal immigrant (alien) is a person who has entered the US illegally and hasn't made any attempt to gain legal residency. To be an illegal immigrant (alien) the person has to have either entered or attempted to enter the US illegally. This means that the person is obviously not following the law or as you said, being a law abiding alien.
I hope this clears up your question.

Answer 3

An immigrant is someone who has the intention of remaining in the country - an alien (legal or not) is only here temporarily. An individual cannot be an "illegal immigrant", only an "illegal alien".

To become a permanent resident (or citizen) ... either of which can be the end goal of an immigrant ... requires several steps and a lot of paperwork and government processing (and paying of fees). Proof of citizenship, academic standing and its comparable value to US academics, proof of relevant work experience, severance of ties to other countries (or at least creation of firmer ties to the new country, US), and proof of financial solvency are just SOME of the things one who is intending to stay (temproarily OR indefinitely) must provide.

The illegal alien has provided none of these (or has provided falsified documentation, which amounts to the same thing), nor have they paid the requisite fees.

The legal immigrant (or alien) pays taxes and is registered by the federal government ... including their current contact inforamtion (which must be updated to show where they are living at ALL times while in the US); the illegal alien is under no such constraint. Although some illegal aliens DO pay taxes, it is usually by choice - and is often not proportional to their actual income level (since the typical income is on a cash basis for which there are few, if any, records).

This means the legal individual has the right to access health care, schools, and government programs in times of need (since they're paying into the pot, so to speak); the illegal individual does not.

Unfortunately, until citizenship is achieved through naturalization, neither has the right to determine where their tax dollars (if they pay any) are spent; nor do they have any say in who becomes a lawmaker (since they are not eligible to vote) - which can have a tremendous impact on their future well-being.

Answer 4

No. No one has a problem with immigrants coming to America and starting a new life, as long as they do it legally. But when you come here illegally, drive around with no car insurance, overflow the hospitals with people who are sick and can't pay, steal jobs from more qualified workers because they will work for less money, that's what people have a problem with. Not to mention speaking their language instead of English, because they do not want to learn English.
What they need to do is go after the employers and people who provide housing to illegals and it will stop. How do you get a job without a social security card anyway? Let a white or black person try to get a job without a social security card and see what happens. But this is what happens in the "politically correct" society that we have become.
Wait and see what happens when the d_ldo lady gets in charge next election.

Answer 5

No they are not the same. An immigrant is legal. An illegal alien is not.

Daniel F.

Next time try answering the question. Nobody gives a shi* what terms you use, and nobody asked you "your business", so go crawl back under your rock.

Answer 6

ILLEGAL immigrant is exactly the same thing as an ILLEGAL alien. Everyone that is here ILLEGALLY is not a "law-abiding" person since they broke the law to be here.

Sorry but your terms are kind of blurred together and you aren't really clear.

Answer 7

The difference is that the legal immigrant has taken the steps necessary to enter the country and to work here legally. The illegal immigrant ahs manged to sneak across the border or has overstayed a visa, or worked without a work visa.

Answer 8

legal immigrants can obtain legal, safe housing, work well paying, meanigful jobs, and are most likely here to contibute to the society they now see as there own. Illegal immigrants live in unsafe, illegal housing, work low paying jobs that will never get them a real living wage, and ussualy drive really old crappy cars that pollute our air. You would think it would be to the benefit of the immigrant to come here legally.

Answer 9

Illegals bypass all the rules and just come over with no intention of leaving. They break the rules and are more likely to break more of them (paedophia, drink driving, doing drugs).

Legal immigrants usually have nice clean records (unless you're going to Mexico or Cuba where you can just pay someone off).

Answer 10

Illegal means you have broken the law. Its kind of in the title. I don't know why pro's are always using that lame technique.