What do you call people who leave their country and come to another country to live permanently?

If they are illegal immigrants, people call them various names, many of which are demeaning.  

One of these demeaning names is alien.

Over the past several years, the word alien has been used more frequently to refer to people who are illegally in America from another country.  

Additionally, people who are not U.S. citizens but are in the country legally may also be called aliens. The word alien conveys estrangement and otherness, separating humans as if they were from another world or dimension.

In fact, immigrant rights groups and many Americans argue that the term is denigrating and dehumanizing because it reinforces otherness.

Who wants to be labeled an alien simply because they are from another country or are non-citizens?

Meriam-Webster says an alien is “Belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing: STRANGE.”

People from other countries are not from another world; what is so strange about them?

So what is wrong with using the term illegal immigrant, noncitizen, or foreigner?

Noncitizens are no stranger to humans than the citizens of the country where they reside.

Calling another human being an alien, no matter their country or citizenship, marginalizes people.

The violent raids and arrests executed in the mass deportation of illegal immigrants have resulted in children being separated from parents or other family members. The emotional toll on children due to these separations is unthinkable. Unnecessary violence has resulted in the harm and death of loved ones.

African Americans can empathize with the inhumane treatment of immigrants.

African Americans were once foreigners in America, but not through migration. They were brought to America on slave vessels and enslaved to create economic prosperity through free labor.

Our ancestors endured violence, bloodshed, and many atrocities. Untold numbers died on the ships, from harsh working conditions, and at the hands of slave owners.

The granting of citizenship didn’t stop the discrimination, inhumane treatment, and lynchings. Likewise, voting rights didn’t stop the degradation.

Today, African Americans continue to fight for justice and equality in a country we helped to build.

When I think about what my enslaved ancestors and freed forefathers did for America, along with the many immigrants, this song comes to mind: “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie.

This Land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York island,

From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters;

This land was made for you and me.

What a protest song against anyone or any group who thinks they own America!

There is an even greater message about this land of ours, and it resides in the Bible.

In Leviticus 25:23 (NIV), God says, “This land is mine, and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” Although this was said to Israel about the land they possessed, the same applies to America and every other country.

“The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him (Psalm 24:1 NIV).”

This land is God’s land, and we are all sojourners in it.

Every human being, whether a citizen or immigrant, should be treated with dignity and respect.

I hope that you are happy and well.