Bill Make Term Illegals More Polite Because It's Not Nice

[las47032]

TALLAHASSEE -- A state legislator whose district is home to thousands of Caribbean immigrants wants to ban the term "illegal alien" from the state's official documents.

"I personally find the word 'alien' offensive when applied to individuals, especially to children," said Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. "An alien to me is someone from out of space."

She has introduced a bill providing that: "A state agency or official may not use the term 'illegal alien' in an official document of the state." There would be no penalty for using the words.

In Miami-Dade County, Wilson said, "we don't say 'alien,' we say 'immigrant.'"

She said she encountered the situation when trying to pass a bill allowing children of foreigners to get in-state tuition at colleges and universities. Wilson, who directs a dropout prevention and education program in Miami, said she politely asks witnesses at public hearings on such issues not to use the term.

"There are students in our schools whose parents are trying to become citizens and we shouldn't label them," she said. "They are immigrants, through no fault of their own, not aliens."

Wilson said the first word isn't as bad as the second.

"'Illegal,' I can live with, but I like 'undocumented' better," she said.

Asked if her bill (SB 2154) might run afoul of Gov. Charlie Crist's "plain speaking" mandate for government agencies, Wilson said, "I think getting rid of 'alien' would be plain speaking."

Source: The News-Press: Local & State

[Old Fart]

My Grandparents were "Legal Aliens" if it was good enough for them it's good enough for ALL the other LEGAL ALIENS!
You want something that is "alien"?
How about having to listen to Mexican Polka Music playing full blast from the ILLEGAL ALIENS who occupy the rental unit across the street from me!
DJH

[Chrisj]

Originally Posted by las47032

"I personally find the word 'alien' offensive when applied to individuals, especially to children," said Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. "An alien to me is someone from out of space."

Wilson said the first word isn't as bad as the second.

"'Illegal,' I can live with, but I like 'undocumented' better," she said.

Source: The News-Press: Local & State

The word alien has been used to decribe people from foreign countries longer than it has been applied to E.T. This just shows an ignorance of the language. In Europe and America there always seems to be a desire to change the way particular groups or items are named because they are seen as having negative conatations.

'Illegal Aliens' well if they have not followed the procedures defined by the legitimate government of the nation that they enter, then that is illegal. They are not native to the country so that makes them alien, a perfect description. You could always try some thing along the lines of the Eurospeak such as 'itinerant persons of indeterminate resedential status'.

Changing the name doesn't change the problems.

[Woodmonkey]

There's a term for that kind of 'double speak' but it's too early and I haven't had enough coffee yet! By giving it a name that sounds better, they hope to minimize the real problem to Americans.

[las47032]

Political correctness and asinine politicians are resolved to eliminate the First Amendment by not allowing the use of the term illegals. The belief is quashing speech that is not offensive to anybody especially concerning gender, race or ethnicity.

In spite of Wilsons argument and objections, illegals are NOT immigrants!

Our nation was founded by legal immigrants, and through America's history people traveled from other nations by ship and other means of transportation arriving at various ports of entry like Ellis Island. Upon arrival, immigrants went through a lengthy process in order to protect Americans. Becoming a U.S. citizen requires more than crossing the border, jumping the fense, swimming or walking across the Rio Grande, crawling through a tunnel and traveling north questing for education, all kinds of government assistance such as food stamps and welfare, free health care.

People who legally immigrated to America, they endured a strict barrier such as background checks to determine the existence of criminal history or possible connections to terrorists.

Medical exams to find out what diseases are still present in third-world nations, but these illnesses have been eradicated in the U.S.

Show financial condition to preclude recent arrivals from becoming an incumbrance on U.S. taxpayers. We have neough freeloaders already.

People who have come to America illegally leaves our nation open to terrorism, disease, financial ruin and undiscovered crime. Illegals have no lawful or moral cause for being in the U.S.