At least according to the Associated Press
Political correctness is a road to socialism.
An undocumented American sounds like some kid that was born in the back woods of Georgia that never gets a social security number.
“They argue the term gives the impression that immigrants have broken criminal law, when some immigration infractions—including overstaying a visa—are only civil violations.”
So it’s not “illegal” to break civil laws? Sweet! No more fear of personal injury lawsuit like when I backed out of the driveway and ran over some old lady. “Not checking mirrors?” Well, old lady, why don’t you mirror… um… your face! And imagine how much money ChickenTikka will save for his inevitable paternity lawsuits where it will not be “illegal” for him to not pay child support.
In case it was not obvious, that was sarcasm - you know, because this new rule is a load of crap.
This article is like the New Testament, riddled with inconsistencies:
“The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term ‘illegal immigrant’ or the use of ‘illegal’ to describe a person,” AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll wrote. “Instead, it tells users that ‘illegal’ should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.”
“The change comes as a major immigration reform bill, which could legalize millions of immigrants living in the U.S., is expected to be unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators.”
How can immigration reform legalize millions of immigrants if those immigrants aren’t illegal in the first place? I guess immigration reform is a complete waste of time.
Well, it’s illegal to park longer than the parking meter, but that does not make you a criminal (not paying the fine does, IIRC).
I mean, clearly this is just the result of activism to portray illegal immigrants in a less negative light. So much for unbiased news coverage. Additionally, what’s up with the guy in the photo with the “proud to be undocumented” sign? INS can’t detain this guy?
Good point, but you would still be an “illegal parker” - since you are parking illegally.
Actually, it does make you a criminal because you have committed a crime (see definition of a crime below). The fine is your penalty for committing the crime of parking illegally. If you fail to pay the fine, you commit a second crime and receive a more severe penalty.
From Merriam-Webster:
Crime: an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.
So by that definition, pretty much every one of us is a criminal; even people who aren’t involved in finance. :-/
some of us are criminals who are lucky enough never to have been caught.
^ I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of US citizens are technically criminals, particularly those with cars. I regularly exceed the speed limit and understand that I am a criminal as a result. When I get caught, I accept my penalty and move on. The penalty for being in the US illegally is to leave.
I am fine with illegal immigrants if they pay taxes for the services they are receiving in this country.
I saw another article on CNN today about not using what they called, “The W-Word.” I thought it was gonna be an article about Bush.
I know legendary investor Jim Rogers is advocating a no passport policy like a century ago. Basically you can live in any country you want.
Time came out with a poll (OCD: poll results, actual poll was conducted by someone else I am too busy to google).
Out of 6.2 billion people, 138 million non-Americans would emigrate to US, given the chance. The rest was mostly UK (60-75 million IIRC), Canada, and France. Total 17.6% or about 1 billion.
So, Jim Rogers may be mistaken.
Countries with lax immigration policies have always suffered. Ask the Native Americans.
^ If I’m reading that correctly, the population of the UK would basically be doubled by new immigrants.
Of course, it will never reach those polled numbers. As millions and millions of people flood into wealthy countries, average living standards will decline and immigration will become less desireable, thus dampening the inflow. Furthermore, since the income distribution will skew dramatically towards the low end, the cost of providing social services will increase, causing severe economic problems. If countries then restrict social services, they will have other problems, like crime from the now persistent poverty. The only solution would be to physically separate the new immigrants and put them under special domestic policies. Basically, this would be the same as having them in a different country.
Maybe mass immigration can happen gradually over a long time, to give immigrants and their descendants time to develop productivity skills that will add to the host country. Sudden mass immigration sounds like a rather disasterous idea.
Illegal alien (as a legal concept, not as a movie) actually makes more sense than illegal immigrant. Wikipedia does a pretty good job of explaining it, but it seems plenty precise to me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(law)