First, it was “illegal alien.” Then, it became “undocumented immigrant.” If you're Nancy Bleeding-Heart Pelosi, it's “undocumented American.”
Now, according to the AP, illegal aliens aren't illegal at all -- they're just “undocumented citizens.”
Despite, you know, not actually being citizens. Which is the whole entire point.
Here’s an excerpt from a recent AP story on the wind-down of former President Obama's DACA program, as screenshot by the Washington Free Beacon’s Alex Griswold:
From the Associated Press: "undocumented citizens" pic.twitter.com/UsMYHz4Mga
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) September 7, 2017
Let’s take a quick refresher, for those who are still confused as to what constitutes a “citizen.” According to the federal government (which, per the U.S. Constitution, gets to make the rules about citizenship), here’s a short list of those who are considered “citizens” of the United States of America:
- An individual born in the United States.
- An individual whose parent is a U.S. citizen.
- A former alien who has been naturalized as a U.S. citizen
- An individual born in Puerto Rico.
- An individual born in Guam.
- An individual born in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Note that “An individual who came to the United States illegally but really, really, really doesn't want to go home” appears nowhere on this list.
Conversely, here is the definition of “illegal alien,” as described under federal law:
An undocumented or "illegal alien" is an alien who entered the United States illegally without the proper authorization and documents, or is an alien who once entered the United States legally and has since violated the terms of the status in which he entered the United States or has overstayed the time limits of his original status.
And there you have it, folks, in really plain English (don’t worry, there are other language translations available). You can twist it however you like, but an illegal alien by any other name is still ILLEGAL.