I’m British & undergoing US visa paperwork; I commonly see the term ‘alien’ referring to foreign nationals. In the UK the word fell out of fashion in recent decades, and in conversation with my girlfriend she sees it as loaded/dehumanising term to refer to a non-citizen. I see the word quite a bit going through legal stuff & see it as a non-offensive technical term, but is it a word used much by common Americans to describe foreign nationals (legal or illegal)? (Contentious or non-issue).
35 comments
It’s a legalism and largely a non-issue, I’m sorry if you disapprove.
In a legal context I think it’s just a technical term but in regular conversation talking about people I definitely find it to be pejorative and I disapprove of its use.
I see alien and still think outer space. There’s a lot of nasty politics around immigration that I do tend to have some sort of biased responsive initial thought but probably more defensive, than negative.
I personally don’t have a problem with it but that’s just me.
In casual conversation I would assume they are referring to the movie series.
I’ve switched to using Outer Spasian
> is it a word used much by common Americans to describe foreign nationals
Outside of legal/technical, only racists use “alien”. The common term is immigrant, undocumented, or illegal immigrant, no one uses the term alien. Those who use “alien” are purposely doing so and doing so for nefarious reasons.
eta: Because I expect some weird strawman argument, people using alien to mean space people isn’t relevant to this conversation.
edit: And no surprise… the racist on this subreddit have brigaded my comment. I’ll repeat my only point, no American uses the term “alien” for immigrants in day to day life. The only ones that do are racists.
I found it odd that all my mom’s paperwork still says “permanent resident alien”, and do think of it as a politically loaded term.
One really common example of this is how people talk about those who get a tourist visa but use it to immigrate illegally. Depending on who is talking they’re either an “illegal alien” or an “undocumented immigrant”
I think you’d have to go out of your way to find someone who actually uses the term “alien” in everyday speech.
As a technical legal term, it is what it is, and adheres to the definition of the word alien.
It’s a legal term, but when used in public it’s often meant to in a dehumanizing way. You’re literally calling someone an “alien” after all and xenophobes often use to imply immigrants are lesser to themselves.
No I don’t. But some people will always *find* reasons to get their shit in a bunch.
Not really. It’s a bit too legalese for casual conversation though
It will depend on context, but largely this is a technical term.
Really the only context in which I could see it being pejorative would be someone saying, for instance, “these damn aliens are coming over the border and taking our jobs!”
Technical/legal term.
The proper term is ‘Xenomorph’.
Contentious and used in non-legal parlance to refer to illegal or non-white immigrants in a derogatory manner. Within legal use, it is what it is, I also find it outdated and in need of change.
It’s a legal term. So, fine in legal documents, but people don’t use it in conversation here, and if they do, it does sound icky and xenophobic. People use “foreign national” or “immigrant/expat” or “green card holder” in conversation here. (Btw, we have this difference in standards with “oriental.” “Oriental” is seen as an offensive, dehumanizing word here in the US, but my understanding is that it isn’t seen that way in the UK. Just some quirks between our dialects.)
It has no pejorative context. It is a legal term and not commonly use in day to day vernacular. So much so that when most Americans hear the word they think “Extraterrestrial”.
Ngl my first thought was the movie alien when I hear that word
If someone asked me to describe aliens or what my thoughts were about aliens, with no other context, I’d be thinking that Spock is half alien, Moclans have some weird sexism, and the Newcomers from Alien Nation, though different, have some amazing social similarities to us.
I thought you were talking about extraterrestrials for a second. Lol 👽🛸
It’s a tiresome semantic game.
People don’t like alien because it highlights the difference between the other person and the majority. “They’re an alien, unlike the rest.” Or because it was part of “illegal alien.”
So what do these people do? They insist on calling them a “foreign national,” or “foreigner.” Or “undocumented worker,” for those who entered illegally. But then foreigner will take on the negative connotation and we will change it to something else because the complaint is about the sentiment.
Similarly, it went from “colored” to “negro” to “black” to “African American.” And now black seems en vogue.
It’s just a term. I don’t think most people don’t think negatively until hypersensitive people start complaining about it.
There will be people who find “alien” derogatory. I do not believe most people think that.
By itself, it’s a legal / technical term that does not come up often in everyday conservation.
A more loaded / pejorative term would be:
“_illegal_ alien”
…vs the more friendly alternative:
“undocumented worker / person”
In casual use, I’d only associate it with space aliens. Don’t see anything wrong with the legal use though, about the same as foreigner in my mind
One of my son’s friends just got designated an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability,” and they all made UFO jokes for a few days, but no one got offended or embarrassed or anything. It’s a legal term.
>I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
>I’m an Englishman in New Yooork.
[(Sting, ca. 1987)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk)
It’s a legal term here but if someone’s not in the legal field, I usually hear it used derogatorily, suggesting racist or xenophobic tendencies from the person saying it.
15 years ago it was ubiquitous, today you are quite out of Touch if you use it instead of undocumented
Purely a legal term. Feel like the memetic change the vocal minority push for is mostly a hedonistic circle jerk.
If you said alien to me I’d think of little green men from space.
Kind of. Undocumented immigrant is better.
I think of Sigourney Weaver.
In common speech, I’d think of it being a bit perjorative (gives vibes of being an outsider who doesn’t belong), but if it’s legal documents you are talking about, it’s just legal speech. Doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
Its not really used in normal use. Only really in legal talk. But stuff on news, talks between people, will just use immigrants
It’s a legal/technical term. I do agree with you that it sounds hostile/dehumanizing.
In my experience the only people who use it in everyday speech *do* mean it pejoratively. As in: “we gotta keep our borders safe from illegal aliens!”