The terms “undocumented immigrants” and “illegal aliens” are two phrases to describe people that come to the United States without legal documentation.  Although they are similar, they are different in describing people. An undocumented immigrant is a way to describe someone that came from another country but does not have the proper documents and papers to live in this country. An illegal alien is a harsher way of saying that implying that because someone isn’t from this country they are not human or they are an alien. The second term is a lot more offensive.

In the text, ” Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant,” Jose Antonio Vargas is an immigrant from the Philippines. He tells his story of how he got to the United States when he was in middle school and didn’t find out he was undocumented until he was in high school. He describes getting put on a plane by his mother and her telling him that the man with him was his uncle. After arriving in the U.S., Vargas started 6th grade and started to live a normal life. He didn’t find out his green card was fake until he tried to get his driving permit. After finding this out, he tried to be more cautious about people not finding out. However, now that he knew he was undocumented, he couldn’t do everything he wanted. He originally wasn’t going to go to college because he couldn’t apply for financial aid and his family couldn’t afford it. He did end up in college but could not apply for certain internships of interest because he didn’t have all the information that was required. These are the kind of things that he dealt with in his life, as well as other undocumented immigrants.

In this situation, Vargas should be referred to as an undocumented immigrant rather than an illegal immigrant. They are both diminishing. But calling someone an illegal alien is implying you don’t see them as human beings. Calling someone an undocumented immigrant that is undocumented is true. However, no one should be called either of these. All people are human beings and they don’t deserve this. Most people that come to the U.S. are fleeing from unprecedented circumstances. They are coming here because they want a better life for themselves and their kids or future children. It’s disheartening the way certain people treat them because they want a better life. People need to be more open-minded and empathic to solve these problems. But all of that takes time.

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