Illegal Immigrant Or What

I am confused again. This time it is about what to call those people, estimated between 12 and 20 million and mostly from Mexico and other central American countries, who walk into this country without permission and stay here without documentation.  They used to be called "illegal immigrants", a term I think fits well but is now politically incorrect. I rarely see any story in the press that used that term anymore and in fact most major press organizations have banned it on the basis that it is "offensive".  When you can control the words people use, you can frame the issue your own way, and that way for the media is to pretend that illegal immigrants are here legally.  By changing the vocabulary they have helped to control the way people in the United States view illegal immigration.

That is exactly what is happening with the immigration debate today. UCLA's’ undergraduate student government, for example, recently approved a resolution that condemned the use of the term “illegal” when describing  immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission. They like the term "undocumented immigrant" instead.  It does make it seem that the illegals here should be seen as legal citizens and that we should just welcome them despite their illegal status.

The U. S. constitution long ago defined an alien as a person who comes from a foreign country. The term "illegal alien" was what we used to call those people who were here without permission. It is a broader and more accurate description because it includes undocumented aliens and non immigrant visa overstayers. An undocumented alien is an individual who has entered the U.S. illegally, without entry documentation.  But that one isn't politically correct either now because there are many millions of Hispanics here who support illegal immigration. No politician wants to insult that voting block by applying the term illegal to those who come here without permission.. Now many of those who support people coming here illegally like to use the term "undocumented workers". The media likes it too because it sanitizes the act of breaking into the country without permission, and that makes the media outlet feel safe from the wrath of those who like illegal immigration.

Are you confused yet? If not, here are some more often used euphemisms for the more accurate and neutral term "illegal immigrant": alien absconders, alien residents, asylum applicant, border crossers, border jumpers, day laborers, entrants, foreign nationals, foreign students, foreign born, foreign born newcomers, foreign born workers, guest workers, illegal border-crossers, illegal entrants, illegal newcomers, illegal residents, illegal workers, lower wage illegal workers, Mexican nationals, Mexican born expatriates, Mexicans, migrant workers, newcomers, out-of-status migrant, paper less immigrant, poor immigrants, residents, unauthorized workers, under banked, undeserved population, undocumented, undocumented citizens, undocumented foreigners, undocumented immigrants s, undocumented Mexican immigrants, undocumented Mexicans, undocumented persons visa overstayers.

I am out of breath! When someone breaks into your house he or she is called a "burglar". Instead, maybe we should just call them "undocumented resident?  That way we would not hurt the burglar's feelings as we hurt the feeling of the illegals here when we use :illegal" to describe their status. But I doubt that any of the illegal immigrant advocates would want to call their house burglar an undocumented resident, or to let those who break in stay in the house and use it they way the "undocumented resident" wished.
It's odd. The problem with euphemisms is that they eventually take on the derogatory meaning of the thing they were trying to slowly back away from. "Retarded, for example, started out as a euphemism to replace slow which was a euphemism started to replace moron which was also… you get the idea.

Sigh...maybe if we just deport them all  we won't have to worry about the politically correct term for them.