Monday, February 27, 2017

TL; DR of Previous Post

What "Undocumented" is All About

The use of the phrase "undocumented immigrant" vs. "illegal alien" is very revealing. Those using the former phrase believe in (or at least promote a belief in) a universal right to immigrate to the United States, so legal status is merely an issue of whether or not you have filled out the paperwork correctly, hence the term suggesting a minor regulatory violation. Those using the latter term believe that nations have the right to select to whom they wish to give entry, so legal status is much more equivalent to whether or not one has obtained consent before having sex. The debate between the two sides makes much more sense once you understand this fundamental difference in viewpoints.

That is all.

1 comment:

SFG said...

Well said. They don't want to use the term 'illegal' because that would imply they're doing something wrong, so it's just 'undocumented'--I left my green card at home.