A Joke with Lots of Truth

A Harley rider is passing the zoo, when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain, the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.

A reporter has watched the whole event. The reporter says, "Sir, this was the most brave and gallant thing I saw a man do in my whole life." The biker replies, "Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right." The reporter says, "Well, I'm a journalist from The New York Times, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page ... So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?"

The biker replies, "I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican."

The following morning the biker buys The New York Times to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page:

U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH!
 

Burglars are not uninvited house guests.

Car-jackers are not under-rated drivers.

Bank robbers are not making unauthorized withdrawals.

Illegal aliens are not undocumented immigrants.

The correct terminology for the nearly 20 million persons illegally in the U.S. is illegal aliens.   The term undocumented immigrants is purposely incorrect in order to sway the public in favor of special interest groups and only clouds the reality of the situation.  Most undocumented border crossers never had a document to lose.  The incorrect and understated implication is that legal status can be achieved merely by completing some paperwork.  By law the illegal alien must leave the country in order to apply through the proper immigration procedure.

The politically correct term undocumented immigrant started with former INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) Commissioner Leonel J. Castillo during the Carter Administration (1977-81).  The word 'undocumented' wormed its way from  the widely discredited and now defunct INS to politically-correct media, cheap labor corporations, ethnic vote pandering politicians,  and pro-illegal alien 'rights' organizations, many of which are race biased.  Even the highest officials including President Bush and former House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt pander to the extent they even call illegal aliens citizens.

An alien is a person who comes from a foreign country. The term illegal alien is accurate because it includes undocumented aliens and nonimmigrant visa overstayers.  An undocumented alien is an individual who has entered the U.S. illegally, without  entry documentation.  Any alien who violates the terms of his or her admission may be deemed to be out of status.  Becoming out of status occurs when a nonimmigrant remains in the United States beyond the expiration date of their visa or when a nonimmigrant engages in employment in the United States for which she is not authorized.   Roughly 60% of the illegal alien population are undocumented aliens and about 40% are nonimmigrant visa overstayers.  Thus, the term illegal alien is the accurate term to use.

In that immigrant connotes legality, the term illegal immigrant is really an oxymoron. Even though common usage of immigrant has been broadly applied to those illegally in the U. S., such usage is incorrect for the following reasons:

1. Dictionaries define immigrant as "a person who comes to a country to take up PERMANENT residence." Thus, the term immigrant does not always apply to transient illegal aliens who frequently cross the porous U.S. border.  Further, without amnesty or other change of status, illegal aliens are subject to deportation and have no legal assurance of permanent residency.

2. There are about 185 different visas. Many of the visas are classified as nonimmigrant visas including the J-1 visa for exchange students.  Many foreign students overstay their nonimmigrant visa and then are inaccurately called an illegal immigrant.  How does expiration of a nonimmigrant visa make that person an illegal immigrant?  A person who overstays a nonimmigrant visa should be properly described as an illegal alien.

3. The U.S. Census Bureau categorizes (Definitions were in the link but have been removed by the 'Biden Open Borders and Fake Census Administration') foreign-born as follows:

• "naturalized U.S. citizens,

• legal permanent residents (immigrants),

• temporary migrants (such as students),

• humanitarian migrants (such as refugees),

• and persons illegally present in the United States."

Although the Census Bureau does not have the courage to use the category illegal aliens the important point is that "persons illegally present in the United States" are NOT categorized as immigrants.  Immigrants, by definition, are legal and illegal aliens, by definition, are illegal.

A poll taken in early 2004 by Andres McKenna Polling and Research found that 73 percent saw noncitizens as "illegal aliens," while 25 percent saw them as "undocumented workers."   Yet how often do you read newspapers or hear politicians use the term "illegal aliens"?  See Disconnect.

Also, see Sorry, but the Accurate Legal Term is 'Illegal Alien'.

Sins of the Pulp Peddlers
(Newspaper's immigration articles):

• Factual errors,

• Heavy use of euphemisms to avoid reality and law,

• Constant illegal alien sob stories but rarely a citizen sob story,

• Racially-oriented content greatly outweighing the negative impacts and rule of law views, and

• General refusal to disclose immigration status of criminals charged with crimes.

Some have stated that an issue is unlikely to progress if the newspapers were not in favor.  Fortunately those days are gone.  The vast majority of newspapers were in favor of the recent AMNESTY proposals not only in editorials but in news content as well.  Newspapers spun the recent AMNESTY defeat as "Senate drops the ball on immigration." 

Now for the rest of the story, from the internet.  The defeat of the recent AMNESTY was a populist revolt by citizens against a bumbling, dysfunctional, corporate-owned government that has failed to accede to citizen demands for immigration enforcement.  The populist revolt was brought about by many grass roots organizations successfully utilizing the internet and talk radio.

It should be clear that newspapers, or Pulp Peddlers as this site likes to refer to them, have not and will not adequately report the views of the vast majority of citizens who demand immigration enforcement.  Yes, we can and should criticize newspapers for their writing failures but a more expedient and effective approach is to transition citizens in search of immigration information away from newspapers and toward the internet and talk radio.

Some alternative sources of immigration are in the column to the right.

Alternative Sources of Immigration News

National Sites   Most complete links anywhere to immigration enforcement national sites.  The number of sites has exploded in numbers in recent years showing the concern (anger) over America's illegal invasion crisis.

State Organizations   Most complete links  anywhere to immigration enforcement state organizations.  The number of organizations has exploded in numbers in recent years showing the concern (anger) over America's illegal invasion crisis.

Immigration Blog News   Real, raw, and real-time immigration blog news from a variety of expert sites!

 Visit the sibling site:

Criminalizing the Presence of Illegal Aliens

You are free to go Mr. Bank Robber because the police only saw you in the bank vault at 2 AM, they did not see you break in.  It's goofy, of course, but that is the analogy as it relates to immigration law. 

Immigration law treats the presence of an illegal alien differently than other criminal actions such as illegal border crossing.

Immigration law, like tax code, is a body of code separate from criminal law and is civil and not criminal in nature.  Enforcement and adjudication of immigration law is handled through processes separate from criminal law. Reflecting the civil nature of immigration law the presence of an illegal alien in the US is a "violation", not a "crime" such as a misdemeanor or felony in criminal law.  However, many acts associated with illegal immigration such as illegal entry are indeed criminal acts punishable by fines and imprisonment.

Visit Safeguarding the Border for some legal commentary.

"Our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually."

Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy,
during debate of the Immigration Act of 1965

"This amnesty will give citizenship to only 1.1 to 1.3 million illegal aliens. We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this."

Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy, D-Mass,
regarding an amnesty bill passed in 1986

News roundtable: How we refer to immigrants

This an excellent discussion on terminology.  Rosemary Jenks of NumbersUSA is absolutely correct.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/2009-07-08-immigration-roundtable_N.htm