The Heritage Foundation
by The Honorable Thomas G. Tancredo
Since January of 2004, when President Bush first proposed his “comprehensive immigration reform,” it has become increasingly evident that there is a sharp disconnect on this issue between the political elites in the nation’s capital and the values and concerns of average citizens. This disconnect is evident even in the terminology chosen to discuss our immigration and border security problems, so it should come as no surprise that an acceptable solution has proven elusive. We can’t hope to find a solution until we have some agreement on the problem.
I have used the term “illegal immigration” here only because in this city, it is the way people are forced to talk about illegal aliens. But traditionally, and in federal law, there is no such thing as an “illegal immigrant.”
A person who is in this county legally is either here as a legal immigrant or has a “non-immigrant visa,” meaning a tourist, student, or temporary worker visa.
If someone enters our country by unlawful means, he is by law an illegal alien, not an illegal immigrant.
Posted by tyne at October 27, 2006