{"id":24659,"date":"2021-06-21T13:28:25","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T17:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=24659"},"modified":"2021-06-21T13:31:25","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T17:31:25","slug":"https-www-immigrationreform-com-p24659-migrants-refugees-terminology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2021\/06\/21\/https-www-immigrationreform-com-p24659-migrants-refugees-terminology\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrants? Refugees? Let\u2019s Get the Terminology Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Today\u2019s immigration debate has undoubtedly become America\u2019s hot-button political issue. As activists, politicians, and immigration experts (including lawyers) debate who is\/isn\u2019t eligible to remain legally in the United States, a major problem goes unaddressed: correct terminology. We often hear words like, \u201cmigrant\u201d, \u201crefugee\u201d, and \u201casylum seeker\u201d being used interchangeably. However, these words carry very different technical and legal meanings and are not interchangeable no matter how similar they sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what is the difference between a migrant and a refugee and why does it matter? Current U.S. immigration law might allow foreign nationals in the United States as refugees if they are fleeing from political, religious, or ethnic persecution in their home country (they may also still seek refugee status and not cross any borders, too). A refugee, unlike an asylum seeker, is determined to meet the requirements of someone who is persecuted before<\/em> arriving in our country, whereas an asylum seeker is someone who arrives here first<\/em> and then asks to be allowed to remain in the country for a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. In other words, there are very specific grounds on which a person abroad can qualify as a refugee \u2013 or another to claim \u201casylum\u201d once they are here in the United States. This is very different from a \u2018migrant\u2019 for one key reason \u2013 the involuntary<\/em> resettlement of a person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n