Immigrant Versus Illegal Alien

Open borders extremists do not want you to hear the term "illegal alien" - ever. They make every attempt to confuse the issue by using the term "immigrant" to apply to anyone who enters the United States, either legally or illegally. Here are the formal definitions:

An alien is any person not a citizen or national of the United States. A permanent resident alien is an alien admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident.¹⁶ The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) broadly defines an immigrant as any alien in the United States, except one legally admitted under specific nonimmigrant categories (INA section 101(a)(15)).¹⁸ An illegal alien who entered the United States without inspection, for example, would be strictly defined as an immigrant under the INA but is not a permanent resident alien.¹⁷

An illegal alien is an alien who enters the United States without inspection or without an appropriate visa authorizing entry.