Again, while that may be the intention of a small minority, that is not what i see from most people who use the phrase "illegal immigrants".. for the vast majority of people who use that phrase they mean, very clearly an precisely people who immigrated illegally.
In fact, youd think if you really jsut cared about accuracy of language youd be more likely to support "illegal immigrant" over "undocumented immigrant". It is possible for me to be without documents but still legal (for example someone who lost their documentation). It isnt very specific and is intended to blurr the lines between people who just dont have paperwork and people who actively committed a crime. Just as a person with forged documents wouldnt be "undocumented" but would be illegal.
@trianglman So if "everyone" who fights for more accurate language such as "illegal immigrant" is bigoted, please show me where I've displayed bigotry towards any race or people. Thats an absurd personal attack with no justification.
Most people who use "illegal immigrant" do not apply it to people who entered legally but simply overstayed their visa or lost the paperwork. Not unless they overstay their visa by years or decades, at which point it is clearly an illegal act and not a slight mistake.
The vast majority of the time that term is used is in reference to people who sneak across the border with no visa of any kind. In other words, they only use the word when in fact they took an action they knew to be illegal at the time. And yes, they would just as quickly use that term to refer to a canadian who sneaked across the border without a visa too, if such a thing were to happen.
@freemo nobody who has argued against changing their language from "illegal" to "undocumented" has ever shown to be anything other than bigoted in their desire to hold on to this tainted language.
Your claims of "undocumented" being inaccurate is completely false. "Undocumented" means in a country without documented authorization. Someone who loses their visa entered the country with authorization and is still here with authorization (they currently can't prove it and may not be believed). Whereas someone with forged documentation is not here with such documented authorization, they just can lie and pretend they are.