How come in the United States we the non natives are called "aliens" even when whe live here legally?
411486
I think it just a term, as long as you are here legally nobody means anything derogatory about it.
518230
Aliens, by definition come from somewhere other than where they are.  For example, a person born in Mexico who lives in America is an Alien.  More broadly, A being from a planet other than the planet they are visiting.  Someone from planet Beta-Zed in the Gamma Quadrant visiting Earth would be an alien.
955551
North and South Americans can refer to themselves as Americans, to be technical about it.  \n\nIt goes back to the genesis of our country.  Canada and Mexico are actual names of countries.  The states all have names, too.  But the United States was at the begining a discription, and it was meant that way.  The federal government was supposed to have as little power as possible, with responsibility that COULD be allocated to the states BEING allocated to the states.  Therefore, the federal government was referred to as "the federal government of these united states."  Note no capital letters, and the plural tense.  In popular culture the federal government was just a entity on paper, necessary but not wanted.  People used to say, for example, "The united states are in recessions", referring to all the states as entities, not a single country as an entity.  People did not refer to themselves in terms of a country, only states - Californian, Texan, Virginian.\n\nThat all changed with the Civil War.  The influence of the Civil War was so profound that the entire mindset of popular culture in the US changed.  "united states" went from being a discription to the name of our country, "The United States".  Even though grammatically it is wrong ("The United States is in a recession" is not grammatically correct) the accepted usage changed.\n\nThis creates a problem - as a name, we could call ourselves "United Statesers" or "United Statesians" but these are clumsy and awkward.  Before the Civil War, when people wanted to refer to themselves at the federal level, they just called themselves "Americans" because the country didn't have a name, only the government did (Federal), so they just used the name of the continent.  The term also applies to Mexicans, Canadians, and everyone else in the New World - but these countries started out with names so the citizens had no need to refer to themselves as Americans.  By the Civil War, there was already a 250 year history of referring to ourselves first by the State, then by the Continent.  \n\nAt this point, even by the end of the Civil War, precident made it impossible to change.
386161
to become legal, you have to be able to read, and answer questions about the US Constitution, etc.  Since you are then legal, reputable companies would be more likely to hire you.  It doesnt mean that illegal aliens are stupid, its just because they can work for a low income, and the employer has no social security benefits to account for.  Does this help?
823157
White americans are indeed the aliens to a land that was never theirs.
639422
It is not a matter of what people "think" who belongs here, but it is a matter of law. If you were born in America, you are a citizen, therefore you belong here. If someone has come here illegally, then that is a different story. YOU were born here so you are entitled to all the rights and privileges of a US citizen.
905322
symantics here: \n immigrants are people coming into this country LEGALLY from other countries, in the hope of a "better life".  They follow the laws of the land and the contribute to society as a member. \n\nillegal aliens (NOT illegal immigrants) are people sneaking into this country illegally, and not respecting the law of the land.  Yes, they usually are here searching for the "better life" too but they are not "following the rules"or usually paying taxes.   These people are usually poorly educated and many are a drain on the systems into which they have established themselves.\n\nI have no issue with legal immigration.  My grandparents were all legal immigrants, proud to be in this country and earn their citizenship.  They found a better life here for their children and consequently me.  They worked hard, followed the rules, and  contributed to society by voting, and respecting the laws established to govern our country and communities.
1187037
I am personally against giving rights to people who have no respect for the law by entering or remaining illegally, however they are desperate to get rights because usually they are very impoverished or refugees from tyranny and want badly to stay in the US where even abject poverty is better than what they had.\n\nAnd no, we are all not illegal aliens as one person suggested. The American Indians were not the first here. When their ancestors came over here, there already existed people before them. Those people were then conquered, killed, or assimilated by the ancestors of the American Indians.\n\nConquering was for thousands of years, an accepted part of the life of mankind and countries grew out of those wars. We are simply one of those countries. I was born in this country and I am a citizen.
1037123
Politically correct .....Hmmmmm\n\nI agree that they should be called by whatever they call themselves, the settlers took their land (eventually) let us not take their birthright. We are Americans because we live in America. If the earliest settlers called the land Downtown we would be downtowners.. Since we are new in this land, having left our "homeland" ....let me simplify this..\n\nAccepted - this is America, good ole USA (right or wrong)\n\n Say an Englander moves here for permanant living. He legally becomes a citizen. He is not an English American, he is American. A person from Asia moves here and legally becomes a citizen, they are now American, not Asian American. If I was to leave USA and move to another country and become a citizen, say Canada. I would then be Canadian, not American Canadian.\nAnd as such should learn that country's ways, language and way of living. \nIf people did away with this horth thit of attaching another country to their name and live as one in the country that is theirs, all would be better...VOTE FOR ME IN 2008 (Just Kidding)
972800
no way, they were born here so what makes that illegal?
549341
I know what you mean.  When you say you're American, other people jump in and say, but so are Mexicans and Hondurans and Guatemalans, El Salvadorans, etc. because they are all on the continent of North America.  They don't get it, I know, and they probably never will.  Yes, citizens of the USA are Americans.  Mexicans are Mexicans and Hondurans are Hondurans.  Only USA citizens are Americans.
72580
They are called "aliens", because "alien" means: \n\n"Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place, society, or person; strange."\n\nWhether aliens from other worlds exist or not is still an unanswered question.
300160
The actions of a human being can be illegal. When we speak of illegal immigrants, the word illegal is describing how they immigrated, not people themselves. I don't care for the use of illegal as a noun, because that does imply something about the person, rather than his or her status. However, that's semantics. It does not mean that people who oppose illegal immigration are dehumanizing the immigrants. In fact, people on both sides of the issue use the term illegals. The reality is that there are many people in this country who have either entered or stayed in the country illegally, that is in defiance of our immigration laws. In deciding how to deal with these people, we cannot just ignore this fact.
992724
Americans welcome any immigrant if he/she is here legally. Those that aren't are not only trying to bypass the system but put the whole country at risk, because HOW DO WE KNOW that they are here for peaceful purposes? Illegal is illegal...and we have no way of knowing if you are here to simply earn more money for your family OR are here to cause harm to the nation...or at the very least prey on innocent citizens. Look at the large percentage of illegals that comprise the criminal activity in America. That's why ANY illegal has to be screened in order to weed out those that are here for non-peaceful purposes.
678643
American is the proper term for a citizen of the United States of America. While Americans speak the English language, they are not generally considered English by nationality -- they are indeed considered Americans.\n\nWhile many Americans will identify themselves as just Americans for their nationality, Americans also identify themselves by their  racial or ethnic origins or their immigrant origins. Some might refer to themselves as "Irish Americans" (meaning Americans whose ancestors came from Ireland) or "Japanese Americans" (meaning Americans whose ancestors came from Japan) or "African Americans" (meaning Americans whose ancestors came from Africa).
251683
What part of Illegal dont you get? Dont make me laugh just think IS THERE ANYWAY FOR THEM TO GET HERE LEGALLY? \nJust think about it pake & jerry. If you were a little bit smart there wouldn't be much your so called illegals  because they'll be here legally. Now let's see if you two have a little bit of brain to know that someone that does not have documents is called undocumented UN as of NO Comprende? Not Illegal no body is illegal in the world and nobody in this world is Alien because we all are Earthlings because we live in Earth. SO WHY IS THIS SHIT GOING ON? Just Plain BS. Close-Minded Sensenbrenner. It seems America is just not a free-country anymore at least for people that are not white.
97118
people?\ni don't think so ... people means you and i and a few billion others living on earth. by definition, anyone else would be called an alien.