Is A Part Of
As you may know (or maybe you don’t), I an All About the Peace, Love and Understanding. (Even though the Mis-Understanding produces some of the best jokes.) I will do whatever I can to reconcile the irreconcilable. Toward that end, I offer to the American People a phrase I just saw on a British newssite. Yes, I know I ridiculed the British for their “ASBOs” and their “Yobs” recently, but this is something that could help the American dialogue on a divisive issue.
For those of you outside the U.S. of A. (or in blissful ignorance herein), much of the heated debate about Immigration involves a class of people referred to either by the non-judgmental term “undocumented alien” or the judgmental term “illegal alien”. It has become impossible to use either term without raising assumptions on your opinion thereof.
Anyway, this Guardian article about those kinds of people used a term that I think should be used over here as well: Irregular migrants. Now obviously, the term “irregular” has its own subtext, much of which is associated with Sherlock Holmes. Then there are those Irregular linens that cost less than the ‘perfect’ ones. And referring to human beings like badly-hemmed bedsheets may not be exactly complimentary, but it does lighten the tone of the debate.
So, if you really are undecided whether they should be treated as “illegal” or merely “undocumented”, why not just say Irregular Aliens?
