The Off Topic Topic

[mongers]

Who or what is a wolfman?

It ain't that screamy chap on CaNaBaC?

[Admiral Yi]

Who or what is a wolfman?

It ain't that screamy chap on CaNaBaC?

Wolf Blitzer, main anchor on CNN.

Cramer is the screamy guy on CNBC.

[mongers]

Who or what is a wolfman?

It ain't that screamy chap on CaNaBaC?

Wolf Blitzer, main anchor on CNN.

Cramer is the screamy guy on CNBC.

Cheers, now I get it and I do remember both of them.

[Admiral Yi]

I blew a perfectly good opportunity to tell you to look it up yourself. 

[Maximus]

Can't tell if you're being serious or not.

I'm not sure what the bleeding eyes was in reference to.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm not sure what the bleeding eyes was in reference to.

The substitution of "undocumented immigrant" for "illegal alien."

[Jacob]

I'm not sure what the bleeding eyes was in reference to.

The substitution of "undocumented immigrant" for "illegal alien."

You think using the term "illegal alien" is important?

[sbr]

It's almost as important as using "radical Islamic terrorism"

[Ed Anger]

I call illegals "farm equipment".

[Admiral Yi]

You think using the term "illegal alien" is important?

I think saying what you mean is important.

[jimmy olsen]

You think using the term "illegal alien" is important?

I think saying what you mean is important.

I think that's missing the forest for the trees. The two different phrases are now political statements, the way that the speakers of these statements view these people is now fundamentally different and the language they use reflects that.

[Jacob]

You think using the term "illegal alien" is important?

I think saying what you mean is important.

Indeed. And clearly the Wolfman means that these people are "immigrants without documents", rather than "illegal aliens". Those are two very different views of the same human beings, with a significant difference in ideological and political premises.

[garbon]

I think undocumented is misleading. It makes it sound like the documents went missing or were for some inocuous* reason never granted. Hides the fact that these individuals were never given permission to reside on a permanent basis and in many cases not given permission to even enter the country.

I think illegal alien is a more accurate term though I understand concerns about how it makes it seem like individuals are illegal/criminals at their core and all that they do in the country is bad.

*or malicious as in government refused to give them permission they deserve.

[Jacob]

I think undocumented is misleading. It makes it sound like the documents went missing or were for some inocuous* reason never granted. Hides the fact that these individuals were never given permission to reside on a permanent basis and in many cases not given permission to even enter the country.

I think illegal alien is a more accurate term though I understand concerns about how it makes it seem like individuals are illegal/criminals at their core and all that they do in the country is bad.

*or malicious as in government refused to give them permission they deserve.

It's a matter of what you want to emphasize. If the important thing is that they're breaking the law and that they don't belong, then yeah "illegal alien" is the best most accurate term. If the important thing is that they're immigrants looking to better their lives but they're doing it outside of the official system, then "undocumented immigrants" is a more accurate term.

Both terms are misleading in the sense that they focus on a particular perception of the people and obfuscating others through omission. Given that "illegal aliens" have been used consistently in political rhetoric for several decades to blame those individuals for a number of problems, and given that the term has been used primarily in contexts designed to rile up sentiment against them, I don't think "it's more accurate" is the most relevant argument in favour of the term.

[Syt]

It's almost as important as using "radical Islamic terrorism"

Well, you don't want to put your Islamic terrorists in the same basket as the much more nefarious *radical* Islamic terrorists.