What makes immigrants illegal

Theoretically yes, but "illegal alien" is not a technical term. It's popularly used jargon, nowhere found in the U. Because of its insulting connotations, however, we at Nolo prefer to use more neutral terms like "undocumented immigrant" or "unauthorized immigrant. In fact, the immigration reform bill proposed by President Joe Biden would remove the term "alien" from U.

Estimates place the number of undocumented immigrants in the U. Of course, it's an impossible number to know precisely, since this is a population that attempts to stay under the radar.

Some, but not all. Although accurate numbers are hard to come by, it's clear that a significant number of undocumented immigrants originally came to the U. Then they failed to leave after the expiration date of their permitted stay arrived. Overstaying a visa carries its own consequences under U. Partly because U. Detaining and deporting even one person costs many thousands of dollars.

It's also important to understand that there are gray areas, where someone who might be considered undocumented has what almost amounts to a right to remain in the United States. Some undocumented immigrants are unaware that they might have the right to remain in the U. For example, asylum seekers being sought for persecution by their own government, who are unable to make direct contact with a refugee agency in their own country, might have no choice for U.

If stopped at the border, they should be allowed to state their claim and, if their fear is found credible , to see an immigration judge. Or, if an asylum seeker makes it into the U. Although the person has no actual right to be in the U. What's more, under a policy called "prosecutorial discretion," various immigrants, such as students and those with close family members in the U. Some of these immigrants may actually be granted a sort of limbo status called "deferred action," and in some cases a work permit.

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After months of negotiations and some controversy , a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was agreed by countries in early December. Someone may have been living in a country according to its rules until their visa expired, was cancelled, or they could no longer meet its conditions.

But in reality, before being recognised as a refugee, most people have had to cross an international border. They may well have been unable to obtain visas to do this and so may have moved irregularly. Some people have to leave their homes for other reasons, such as the loss of land from rising seas or economic collapse, which means they could not stay put but might not qualify for recognition as refugees under the Refugee Convention. Some visas make one person dependent upon another, for example spousal visas , or those tying one employee to one employer.

Several countries now provide temporary protective visas in such situations. And yet no US citizens were held in Australian immigration detention. That these two concepts are not interchangeable can be seen most dramatically in the case of the at least 15m people in the world who have citizenship of no country at all, including the country where they live.

Many of these people will have never crossed an international border. She returned in and was awarded compensation. There are also reports of more recent wrongful immigration detentions of Australian citizens. This includes those who entered the country as citizens or who had become citizens. The compact is non-binding and offers a statement of internationally negotiated commitments arising from existing human rights treaties. This article is published in collaboration with The Conversation.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. An estimated million people are homeless globally, though the real number is probably higher.