Undocumented or Illegal
A few hours ago I started writing this post. The approach I began with was about how “words matter”. Newcomer, Undocumented, Illegal. I was frustrated and upset by the semantics of the whole thing. Then I realized I had wandered into seven-plus paragraphs that have lots to do with how words matter and the pitfalls of taking those words too literally, out of context, and often with little consideration to the message behind the words. I had nothing related to what triggered my urge to write this new post. So, let me save the “words matter” post for another time and get to what I wanted to get to.
Last week, in his State of the Union address, President Biden used the term ‘illegal’ in reference to a specific alien and our immigration crisis generally. In an interview the next day he walked back his use of ‘illegal’ and said he should have said ‘undocumented’. The whole thing was enough to get time and attention on the major news outlets.
First, it’s clear that no matter his normal language, even our current President recognizes the people coming into our country without following the rules are doing so illegally. I respect his use of the term “illegal”. You may not like how it sounds, but it is essentially correct. His walk back to “undocumented” the next day just highlights his weakness. How quickly he caved to the political correctness we are suffering from today. There was no reason for him to apologize or walk back that comment. Honestly, he hasn’t changed his meaning or the facts, just the label. And in this case, the label is insignificant.
He may prefer to use a different term. Undocumented Immigrant or Illegal Alien. Guess what, they are the same things and everyone knows it. They both refer to non-citizens who have entered and remain in our country without permission or any type of processing. That is, of course, illegal.
Let’s face the fact. In this case the words DON’T matter. If you want to waste the time, you can argue the technical use of the words. But ultimately whether you call them illegal aliens, undocumented immigrants, or ‘newcomers’, the simple fact is these people have entered our country by illegal means. Their presence in our country is illegal.
Everyone gets it. We have a problem with illegal immigration and we have had a problem with it for decades. Wasting time on the semantics of the situation just takes away from solving the problem and is irresponsible.
I’m talking to the politicians, the media, and even the citizens of our country. Let’s stop spending time on the labels and start spending time on solving the problem!