Illegal Aliens and Illegal Immigrants

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Monday, 19 October 2009 (19 October 2009)

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A reader asks for a discussion of
the media’s use of “illegal alien” to mean “illegal immigrant.”
The Associated Press Stylebook recommends the phrase “illegal immigrant” in preference to “illegal alien.”
The words alien and immigrant are not exactly interchangeable, but “immigrant” is perceived as having a more positive connotation than ”alien.”
An immigrant is a person who moves from one country to settle in another.
An immigrant may or may not be a citizen. An alien is definitely not a citizen.
The word alien entered English from Old French in the fourteenth century. As an adjective it meant “strange, foreign.” As a noun it meant “foreigner.” It’s from Latin alienus, “of or belonging to another.”
As a modern legal term, the word alien refers to a person who is in a country, but not a resident of that country.
There are two types of of alien: legal and illegal.…

By: Maeve Maddox
From: Daily Writing Tips » Expressions

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