# They're illegal aliens; stop making up other names for them. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 20, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468 "2013-03-20T17:16:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/161 "2013-03-21T19:55:54Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > So don’t use the term “illegals”. I don’t. > [@](#): > > Would you also use “unforced laborer” instead of “slave”? The situation is dehumanizing, not the term. No, but that’s much more straightforward. The legal status and the problem here are more complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/162 "2013-03-21T19:59:33Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > So don’t use the term “illegals”. > > I think we understand each other, but fundamentally disagree. Would you also use “unforced laborer” instead of “slave”? The situation is dehumanizing, not the term. Yes, but slavery is something that is universally despised. By contrast the belief that nations have the right to regulate who gets to enter their country and gain citizenship is not. Just the opposite is true and many Democratic countries go so far as to blatantly discriminate in favor of members of specific ethnic groups and nationalities, such as Iraq, Israel, Germany and a number of other European countries. Again, I’m very much on the side of illegal immigrants but to compare their status to slavery is insulting both to them and the slaves who certainly did not come to the country by choice nor were ever given the opportunity to leave. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/163 "2013-03-21T20:03:22Z")
All of you here calling for the legalization (or whatever PC word you want to use) of, uh, those here without proper documentation, do you not learn from history? Or did you simply not notice nothing improved after the last round of amnesty? Everyone wants to be all concerned with the situation of the people who come here to find jobs, but nobody wants to look at the reasons why they come here in the first place. As long as conditions back home are so awful, they are going to keep coming here, and at least in CA we are hitting a breaking point. We simply cannot afford to support hundreds of thousands of under- and uneducated people who don’t speak English, nor can we afford to educate their non-English speaking children. Unless you live here, quit advocating that we take on even more. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/164 "2013-03-21T20:18:28Z")
That’s what one of those dipshits actually sounds like, **The Second Stone**. Now maybe the two of you can argue/make out/whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/165 "2013-03-21T20:21:25Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > nor can we afford to educate their non-English speaking children. Well, duh, I mean, they’re nasty revolting childrenses. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/166 "2013-03-21T20:51:48Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > We simply cannot afford to support hundreds of thousands of under- and uneducated people who don’t speak English, nor can we afford to educate their non-English speaking children. > > Unless you live here, quit advocating that we take on even more. Leaving aside the fact that California was founded by Spanish-speakers, it’s three major cities have Spanish names, and is a Spanish word, please provide a single cite to show that Hispanics born and raised in California can’t speak English. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/167 "2013-03-21T21:06:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Well, duh, I mean, they’re nasty revolting childrenses. And we hates them! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/168 "2013-03-21T21:09:40Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Leaving aside the fact that California was founded by Spanish-speakers, it’s three major cities have Spanish names, and is a Spanish word, please provide a single cite to show that Hispanics born and raised in California can’t speak English. Seconding this request. Without fail, _every single one_ of the parents of Hispanic kids I have ever dealt with in the public schools over the last 25+ years has been adamant about their kids learning and speaking English. They may be bi-lingual at home, and they probably have to translate for mom and dad during the meeting, but they speak English. Usually quite well, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/169 "2013-03-21T21:14:25Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Unless you live here, quit advocating that we take on even more. Where do you draw the line as to what “here” means? Does here mean your local school? Your local school district? Your county? Your part of the state? Your state? Your country? Your planet? I guess as long as you got yours, fuck the poor. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/170 "2013-03-21T21:41:11Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Leaving aside the fact that California . . . is a Spanish word . . . Well, not exactly. It was a neologism, in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s “Las sergas de Esplandián.” It’s sort of like saying that “Lilliputian” is an English word. Kinda…and kinda not. (In fact, the “Calif” part is a cognate of the Arabic “Caliph.”) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/171 "2013-03-21T22:07:26Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Really? What area of law do you practice? Are you, by any chance, a trial lawyer? If so, can I come watch your next trial? Because given your demonstrated ignorance of even the most basic of rhetorical devices, and your manifest inability to follow a line of thought from one sentence to the next, I bet it would be a real hoot to watch you up in front of a judge. > > Do they allow popcorn in court? Civil litigator, trials and appeals. No, you are not welcome by me, as you are an asshole, but you are as a member of the public, entitled to attend. It is not allowed to eat in any courtroom I’ve been in. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/172 "2013-03-21T22:09:24Z")
> [@EMCEE\_98](#): > > We are all “illegal aliens.” Scientologist 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/173 "2013-03-21T22:09:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s what one of those dipshits actually sounds like, **The Second Stone**. Now maybe the two of you can argue/make out/whatever. Here’s what another one sounds like. > [@Marley23](#): > > The OP is right, because as we all know the term “illegal aliens” was handed down by God himself on tablets of fire and is written in the stars. It’s an immutable and inarguable law of nature that that’s what these people must be called at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/174 "2013-03-21T22:23:19Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Here’s what another one sounds like. The fact that you think MArley was being serious just shows how dumb you are. You should never be allowed to vote again. Especially when we finally vote to kick out all the illegals. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/175 "2013-03-21T22:40:38Z")
We should just call them what they really are: “Mexicans” :D:p ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/176 "2013-03-21T22:46:50Z")
Hey, we should stop calling black people black or African-American. They’re _negroes_! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/177 "2013-03-21T22:49:15Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Absolutely, because 99% of the time an illegal immigrant _is_ Mexican. Not true at all. And you are ignoring the opposite side of the syndrome; treating everyone who “looks Mexican” as an illegal immigrant. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > It’s possible to favor _legal_ immigration while being strongly against illegal immigration and all the ills it brings. Lots of things are “possible”, but that’s seldom how it works. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There are some unscrupulous business owners who are happy to have access to an ultra-cheap pool of labor, but I’m not one of them. Even assuming that’s true, all it does is make you a member of a tiny minority. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Wages are depressed (and work conditions are crap) _because_ of illegal immigration. There are business owners who would like to hire citizens or legal immigrants and pay them minimum wage or more, but can’t because all of their competitors are hiring illegal immigrants and paying them less. If they don’t do the same, they will go out of business. Eliminate illegal immigration, and wages will rise until they attract citizens and legal immigrants. No; all that happens is the jobs go undone or leave the country. And people who look brown flee the state, immigrant or not, legal or not. > [@curlcoat](#): > > :rolleyes: Yeah, nobody mowed lawns or did construction work or worked as maids before the illegals got here. There’s always been an abused, exploited underclass. Slaves for example. > [@curlcoat](#): > > If the problem we have here was because of a vast population of illegal Swedes, we’d be saying the same thing. The issue isn’t race, it’s the drain on society that illegals pose. Again; they aren’t a drain, we are exploiting them. And yes, matters would be much different if they were white. > [@bump](#): > > The huge wave of illegal immigrants who went back to Mexico when the economy went south in 2008 is a big red flag to me that they weren’t here to make a permanent life in our country, but just here to make money. :rolleyes: They aren’t allowed to stay here as citizens. Should they have just sat here and starved? > [@curlcoat](#): > > All of you here calling for the legalization (or whatever PC word you want to use) of, uh, those here without proper documentation, do you not learn from history? Of course we did. This is the Yellow Peril all over again. Just another anti-immigration panic about how “they” are going to take over, how “they” are lazy parasites, how “they” are different than all the other waves of immigrants. > [@curlcoat](#): > > Unless you live here, quit advocating that we take on even more. \*_\_ \*I’m surrounded by brown people who speak Spanish, and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I neither know nor care about how many if any are illegal aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/178 "2013-03-21T23:01:30Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Well, not exactly. It was a neologism, in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s “Las sergas de Esplandián.” It’s sort of like saying that “Lilliputian” is an English word. Kinda…and kinda not. > > (In fact, the “Calif” part is a cognate of the Arabic “Caliph.”) My mistake. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/179 "2013-03-21T23:09:58Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Where do you draw the line as to what “here” means? Does here mean your local school? Your local school district? Your county? Your part of the state? Your state? Your country? Your planet? I guess as long as you got yours, fuck the poor. In the U.S., the concept is simple. It is the whole country. Once you are LEGALLY here, you are free to move among all the states at will. If you aren’t here legally, then you are supposed to return to your country of origin until you find a way to come back legally if you choose. I swear this place is like trying to teach a civics class to the [Sweathogs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkyw_d6X6i0) from Welcome Back Kotter sometimes. Basic things that everyone should already know get twisted into an intricate web of diversionary questions. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468/180 "2013-03-21T23:19:36Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Well, not exactly. It was a neologism, in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s “Las sergas de Esplandián.” It’s sort of like saying that “Lilliputian” is an English word. Kinda…and kinda not. > > (In fact, the “Calif” part is a cognate of the Arabic “Caliph.”) I always thought it derived from _Cali-_ meaning _hot_ and _-fornia_ meaning _land of fucking_. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-illegal-aliens-stop-making-up-other-names-for-them/653468.md?page=10)