This came up recently because Cato immigration scholar Alex Nowrasteh recently said on twitter that he gets criticized by some advocates for using the term illegal immigrant. Illegal immigrant isn't a technocratic legal term, it's a widely accepted phrase that describes something we all understand quite well. Progressives bringing their innovative political correctness to this have decided that unauthorized immigrant is now the accepted term, and illegal immigrant is offensive. I try to be someone who is both pro immigrant and pro illegal immigrant, and also capable of having productive dialogue with those who are not. Illegal immigrants are great, and they are illegal immigrants.

Source: Forbes September 23, 2017 18:56 UTC