OK look i'm all for immigration reform - but what? Breaking the law doesn't constitute a crime? How does that work ?

Bryant

criminal (just like traffic citations). That's why.

il·le·gal
/iˈlēgəl/
Adjective
Contrary to or forbidden by law, esp. criminal law: "illegal drugs".

Illegal immigrants are not criminals, but they are not in the US legally.

There is a reason we have borders and immigration laws, and people who sneak across the border and work here are here illegally. I have no problem calling them illegal immigrants. Calling them 'undocumented workers' is spin.

I favor immigration reform, but it has to be coupled with permanent changes to enforce the borders. My preference is forcing employers to verify immigration status. Unfortunately, when Reagan did this in the 80's, enforcement was tough at first, and gradually became a joke, as Congress de-funded border security and employment verification. That's how we ended up in this mess to begin with.

Roger. Got it. Check. Newspeak.

...it is also correct to describe such activities as "illegal." They are against the law...

.. but "against the law" = illegal in my dictionary.

Civil law is still law.

Let's quit with the redefinitions.

Calling a whole class of people "illegal" is intended to dehumanize them to the point of criminality when in fact nobody has adjudicated them to be in violation of the law.

and "Untermensch."

yeah, they had a hard on for legalisms, too.

not to mention, unjust laws are definitely worth violating.

there is no citizenship path for our latin american brethren.

caught), "illegal bankers" for those who break laws but have not been caught, etc. IOW, as long as he calls anyone who has broken a law - any law - 'illegal' then he is just catering to the right base of the republican party who believe that 'illegal', 'amnesty' and other such terms are ammunition for use against immigration reform.

Something tells me that McCain and other republicans reserve the 'illegal' term for immigrants and not for drivers, bankers and anyone else - for partisan reasons.

McCain uses the term to designate the whole population of people who hale from or are descendants of people from south of the US border and used as a term of disparagement. It lumps all Latinos together as being law breakers and then become the subject of profiling.

There are other undocumented aliens in this country who are from Australia, China, India, Poland, or any number of other countries.

How soon before "undocumented alien" also becomes offensive and we have to switch terminology again?

Here is what the New York Times said when asked about its use of the phrase:

But in referring in general terms to the issue of people living in the United States without legal papers, we do think the phrases ”illegal immigrants” and “illegal immigration” are accurate, factual and as neutral as we can manage under the circumstances. It is, in fact, illegal to enter, live or work in this country without valid documents. Some people worry that we are labeling immigrants as “criminals” — but we’re not. ”Illegal” is not a synonym for “criminal.” (One can even park “illegally,” though it’s not a criminal offense.)

Proposed alternatives like ”undocumented” seem really to be euphemisms – as though this were just a bureaucratic mix-up that can easily be remedied. Often those phrases seem deliberately chosen to try to soften or minimize the significance of the lack of legal status. We avoid those euphemisms just as we avoid phrases that tend to cast a more pejorative light on immigrants. For example, we steer clear of the shorthand “illegals” and also the word “aliens,” both of which we think have needlessly negative connotations.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/189416/the-new-york-times-explains-why-it-still-uses-illegal-immigrant/

laughed at them and said they were being silly. After all, they were called the n word because they were n words.

McCain's fallacious circular reasoning is obvious to those without bias. They are called illegals because that is what authorities have agreed to call them. Not because they "are."