Why are we allowing the US to call illegal immigrants “illegal aliens”?

[KimGym]

I find this absolutely sickening!!!! It’s a disgraceful term to use and I feel as though if the US are going to use this disgusting terminology, it should at the very least, be censored in other countries. It is so disrespectful and dehumanising. It’s this sort of language that leads people (hopefully only those who have lacked a basic education) to deem immigrants to be sub human, and paves the way for public acceptance of them being treated in a sub human manner. AIBU to think this is totally abhorrant?

lived in Japan in the 1990s - had to go to the town hall to get my alien registration card.

was not offended or dehumanised.

pretty sure the immigrants have bigger things to worry about in the US right now than what word people use to describe them. (A word which democrats and republicans alike have used btw...)

It’s nothing to do with minority groups OP. I’m white British so not a minority group but if I went to the USA and tried to live there illegally, I would be classed as an illegal alien.

Once again the empire building, imperialists want to match in and police other nations language.

What would be your word of choice for people who were living according to the law of entry in a country other than their country of birth? And what would your word of choice be for people living outside the law of entry in a country other than their country of birth? Every country has a right to differentiate between those two distinct groups.

Its a very common term in many many countries, DH and I had Alien Resident Certificates for many many years when we lived in Asia.

This thread has reminded me of a certain episode of Frasier, in which he agrees to endorse the Democrat candidate against the right wing loony Republican candidate,describing him as “the sane choice”. After Frasier does his endorsement ad, the candidate confides in him that he was once abducted by aliens, leaving Frasier on the horns of an ethical and professional dilemma. It then comes out that the candidate had two illegals working for him. Cue mix up involving the word alien.

This conversation is ridiculous, down to OP wanting the work ‘alien’ to be censored. Just ridiculous

Alien is not hate speech, it simply means not native, not that they're from outer space!!! Of course, that makes most US citizens aliens, unless they're Native American.

Somebody needs to tell Sting.

I used to love that song . .

Wow, it was hard enough work to find offence at this let alone engage for so many hours when told its unreasonable and ridiculous. People really do have way too much timento waste. If the OP had life and people and joy around them I dont think, like the majority of normal happy people, they would have ever embarked on such a ludicrous crusade. Would be funny if not so sad.

It's going to be in my head now for the rest of the day at least.

@Salvadoridory “ludicrous crusade”

Yikes. Now you’ve done it!

I don't think there is anything wrong with the word - anything alien means not usually from where it is.

A rose is alien in a potato field. Its also known as a weed (unwanted) - if you called them weeds then I would agree thats wrong, but can't get upset about the word alien. Like others have said, there a WAY bigger problems in the USA at the moment

Quite a lot of US English actually predates current British English. If one were to be pedantic, they are speaking "proper" English from the 18th and 19th centuries and Britain is using more modern slang words.

But I don't really think this is the place for facts.

We don't use the word apothecary either.

As far I am aware, nobody has any issue with it.

Agreed. However,I needed a good laugh this afternoon so cheers OP.

If we all came from Africa, ‘native’ Americans are aliens too.

People like the OP amuse and terrify me in equal measures. Because they have basically decided that despite all evidence to the contrary there really are such things as magic words. And presumably spells and incantations as well.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde (who one can only hope is looking down from heaven in wry satisfaction) “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral word.Words are well used, or badly used. That is all.”

Using what jurisdiction though?

Are we in charge of any other country's language?

There are words that are common in British English but not OK in US English - should we let them change those?

The word alien has meant foreigner since about the 14th century and extra-terrestrial only since the 20th. It is less commonly used in British English these days, but a very ordinary word in other countries.

I don't like it when easily-offended Americans demand people in other countries change the words they use (the 'Latinx' fiasco, for instance) so I don't approve of doing it back to them.

I was an immigrant in Ireland 30-odd years ago ...I remember having a GNIB Alien card.

Because (a) that is the term used in US Law and (b) not being a US citizen what business is it of mine what the US call them?

YABU.

Methinks some folk just have too much time on their hands 😀

I'm guessing that "alien" is a corruption of "alia" - Latin for "others". Hence the phrase "inter alia" meaning "among others" when used in formal writing.

In Croydon, by the bus station, there used to be an office block called the "Aliens Registration Office".