about the "Alien" moniker

hey i've been thinking about this for a while, and i'm not sure if its been talked about here but anyway here we go.

Why does the goverment refer to imigrants as aliens i was under the presumption that you had to be extraterrestrial to be an alien. and not only that some of the laws they made on how to deal with them don't seem to apply to what i think of as normal people trying to come accross. sure there is always a fear of illness being spread but the same thing happens trought airports when people come from abroad. (this is why i think that law is BS by the way) unless it deals with life not of this Earth.

Let me introduce you to the dictionary:

Merriam-Webster: Alien

You may have heard of Noah Webster. His name is synonymous with the word dictionary, although Merriam-Webster holds the only true claim to the name.

It's a wonderful tool, as is Wikipeda.

Wikipedia: Alien

Wiktionary

Wiktionary: Alien

American Heritage

American Heritage: Alien

Google is your friend!

define: alien

All nations have laws regarding legal immigration, but it seems that the US is the only one who gets any flack for it. It must have something to do with our being "The Great Satan."


[edit on 2006/10/7 by GradyPhilpott]

okay obviously you missed the point, the question is not what does alien mean but why is the goverment using to a great extent last time i looked imigrant was the key word i kow alien is in the dictionary ok, i'm going to find you some imigration laws and i'll show you what i'm talking about smartie

Originally posted by razor1000
Why does the goverment refer to imigrants as aliens i was under the presumption that you had to be extraterrestrial to be an alien....

There is your question.

This is why anyone refers to immigrants and visitors to our country from abroad as aliens. The answer is to be found in dictionaries and encyclopedias, among others.

Alien (law), a person who is neither a native nor a citizen of the country of residence

en.wikipedia.org...

1 a : belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing : STRANGE b : relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government : FOREIGN c : EXOTIC 1

www.m-w.com...

Any person not a citizen or national of the United States.
www.immigrationonline.com/glossary/glossary.asp

www.google.com

You missed my point. My point is not that the word is in the dictionary. My point is that according to the dictionary and by legal definition, the word alien as applied to foreign nationals in our country is the correct word. That changes when the immigrant or resident alien becomes a citizen.

The term alien is in no way pejorative, except as it has been made so by those who do not respect our immigration laws.


[edit on 2006/10/8 by GradyPhilpott]

posted by GradyPhilpott
All nations have laws regarding legal immigration, but it seems that the US is the only one who gets any flack for it. It must have something to do with our being "The Great Satan."

Not sure about that one, Grady. Australia cops alot of flack for it's stringent immigration laws and on the flip side, the UK appears to have no control or doesn't care about illegal immigration as it means cheap labour (The Government, that is. Us Plebs have been crying about it for years but they just don't seem to care)

It's "Good For The Economy!"..apparently.

Ignoring the fact that the burden placed on the NHS and other ciritical national infrastructure by 1,000,000 illegals, plus the 500,000 Poles and god knows how many others cannot be good.

[edit on 8/10/06 by stumason]

sorry i forgot that the mods moved this from UFO discussion all the way here

Originally posted by razor1000
sorry i forgot that the mods moved this from UFO discussion all the way here

Don't be too discouraged. There really is meat for discussion here. We just needed a clarification of terminology.

well when it comes to imigration the only thing i have to say about it is that so far i dont agree with the way it is being handle and i dont mean here in the states but overseas. recently a movie came out called american visa and in this movie you will see just why the imigratin laws really dont have any value when you are overseas trying to come to the US. the way the US is handling imigration is akin to isolationalism and this only creates a buble of a fake sense of security imigratino will never stop as long as te countries surrounding the united states arent at the same level as this country. then an only then will it become mexico and cuba's problem. people who dont have a lot look for a better way of life when they come to the united states. all this claim that they are taxin medicare welfare and social security the fact is that they get money taken out of their paychecks just like veryone else but they can't use it since they dont have those privilidges even though they are paying for them. so this means that Social security and medicare are being funded by these illegal imigrants.

Gay used to mean happy.
Rainforest used to mean jungle.
Ace used to be the place "with the helpful hardware man", now its "helpful hardware folks".

Hopefully political correctness doesn't claim another term. In this case...alien.