Illegals or Undocumented? Does it Matter?

Question

I see people in here often get angry at people who say undocumented and say that they are PC for saying it.

I don't think that is reasonable because saying undocumented is accurate. And 3 people I know in here who prefer to say undocumented are Not saying it because of PC. They talk straight.

btw it doesn't matter to me. I know what both terms mean and undocumented is accurate for someone living and working in the US w/o a visa or permit.

Answer 1

it really doesn't matter either way. you could even get away with just saying immigrants or people who came to this country the wrong way since you don't call some immigrants legal immigrants or documented immigrants just immigrants. and I'm sure there are some people who like to call people illegal immigrants and say it like it's a bad word and think people who just came here from another country legally and with a Spanish accent automatically assume they are another ?

I think most people you think are illegal are legal because if there is 15 million immigrants that are not suppose to be here and half are of Spanish decent that's about 8 million spread out nation wide with most of them in the west or California.... if you think about 8 million to 300 million legal residents of the U.S. is not a big number. or to make that number smaller it's like 1 thousand to 60 thousand and if you double it that's 16 million to 600 million.

Answer 2

Hmmm...another excellent question.

I've been saying "illegal immigrant" for a long time now and for a long time I never really realized the connotation of what that phrase means. As a stand alone phrase it is technically correct. Visa-overstays and border crossers both immigrated and both did so "illegally" so putting the two words together is only natural and not really incorrect.

The problem I see is that the word "illegal" is automatically associated with all criminal behavior. So being undocumented is now, by the phrasing, being lumped in with all other criminal offenses. This causes an association of all "illegal immigrants" to be criminals which of course biases people's thinking.

The phrase "undocumented" is a bit more inert and more accurately describes the offense that an "illegal immigrant" committed, entering the US improperly. If one considers considers visa-overstays and border crossers in this light they might be able to more accurately understand the nature of the offense being committed. An offense of incorrect or insufficient paperwork and not that of life or property.

Answer 3

I believe in the value of words. I do get a bit annoyed, but it isn't a biggie for me. The word Undocumented means volumes to people, as well as illegal. If you say the word Holocaust, a immense amount of imagery enters your mind. THe one word is worth thousands of pages of words. It basically make a statement on how much we should tolerate a person being here. As for illegal immigration being a civil case. Civil case is about money. The Government is not going to sue illegal immigrants for money!!!!! You can get Prison term for illegally being here.

Answer 4

"Undocumented" is somewhat accurate, but it is a term used for the sole purpose of pretending it's just a mix up with the paper work instead of a violation of the law.

But it's not like they left their Visa in their other pants.

Sort of like referring to "theft" as: "an undocumented transfer of ownership."

(kmmv is right though... it really doesn't matter either way)

Answer 5

Illegals or undocumented are the same when talking about immigration. Anyway, be humane in dealing with illegals.

Answer 6

I think I will open up shop as an undocumented doctor or maybe I will be an undocumented pharmacist.

I personally am partial to the term illegal alien because of the legal definition. To me immigrant implies official recognition as a resident, so I do not use it. You become an immigrant when you get papers in my book.

Answer 7

Illegal people or undocumented people whatever they call it doesn't matter cause that not gonna help to get rid of it. We're in war with terrorist how come we have 12 million people living here in US and we don't know who they are?
That's weird, that's crazy!

Answer 8

While I believe you are a disgusting supporter of the criminal trash I really didn't think you were stupid. Undocumented is nothing more than an attempt to add legitimacy to criminal invaders who should be dealt with harshly and yea, I mean exactly what you think. I'm sure you and the others that support the trash that oozes across our borders will block me because you are too pathetic to actually stand up and defend your supposed beliefs.

You lay down with trash you smell when you get up.

Answer 9

No, of course it doesn't matter. But this section of Yahoo! Answers is crawling with die-hard anti-illegal immigration fanatics who will make a huge fuss if you call illegal immigrants by anything other than what they consider to be the correct term. I have been flamed before for calling them "illegal immigrants " instead of "illegal aliens". Of course, it is silly and unreasonable, but many of the people on here hate illegal immigrans and are convinced that all of them are evil, despicable, and dangerous, and don't like it when people call illegal aliens by terms that sound less severe, even if they have the same meaning.

Answer 10

The Correct word is Undocumented, That is the one I always have used, If some antis don't like it. That gives me an incentive to use it more!


Antisjed
I vote for her "Best Answer", Good work!