Aliens

"Alien" is a legal term, defined in law at Title 8 United States Code, Section 101(a)(3) as follows:
The term "alien" means any person not a citizen or national of the United States.

We will discuss later the concept and ways of acquiring citizenship, but for the moment let's just say that if you were born in the U.S. or its territories, or were naturalized, then you are a U.S. citizen.

Here's a fundamental principle to remember: No alien has a right to come to this country. The U.S. may grant him permission to do so but it is a privilege not a right, and we may impose whatever conditions we wish on his stay. If he violates those conditions he may be removed, that is, sent out of the U.S. That is commonly called "deportation."

Aliens fall into several categories. The two basic ones are legal and illegal, with subtypes of each.

  • Legal aliens: There are two basic categories of legal aliens recognized by the Immigration and Nationality Act (or INA - that's what the "Title 8" at the top of this article refers to):

    • Immigrants lawfully admitted for permanent residence (LAPR). It is assumed they are coming to live and work in this country although that's not always the case in fact. An LAPR can, after a period of time, qualify for naturalization as a U.S. citizen.

    • Nonimmigrants, that is, alien visitors. They may be coming for the purpose of work or business or whatever and may, in fact, be allowed to live here for quite some time. A nonimmigrant may not naturalize based on a residence here no matter how long it may be.

      Each nonimmigrant category has a letter designation under the INA. For example, an "A" category alien is a diplomat, with subheading numbers attached, like "A-1" is the actual ambassador from a foreign country while the A-3 is a relative flunky. A B-1 is a visitor for pleasure, while a B-2 is a visitor for business. And so on, through category O.

      The order in which the categories appear tells us nothing about their relative importance; it just reflects the order in which they were created. To qualify as a nonimmigrant the alien must (with minor exceptions) have a foreign residence that he has no intention of abandoning.

  • Illegal aliens: Again,there are two basic categories, but the law doesn't break them down that way. NAFBPO presents them in two parts for simplicity's sake.
    • Illegal entrants, that is, those who have entered the U.S. by breaking the law. In both cases it is a crime punishable by a fine and/or jail.
      • Entering at a time and place not designated, also called entry without inspection. That is the crime committed by the typical border-jumper whether it is on the Mexican border, the Canadian, Puerto Rico, or anywhere else the U.S. has an external boundary. A first offense is a misdemeanor while a second or more offense is a felony.
      • Gaining entry by lying to an inspector at the border about one's purpose for coming to the U.S. For example, if a Canadian tells an inspector at a border station that she wants to come to the U.S. to go shopping for the day when, in fact, she is coming to find a job then she is entering illegally. She, too, has committed a crime, a felony first offense, though, for lying to a federal officer.
    • Status violators, that is, those who came to the U.S. legitimately as a visitor but then violated the terms under which they were admitted. These are administrative offenses, not criminal, but they may result in removal even for something the alien did not do. For example, someone who tells the inspector at the border that he is coming to go to school and then fails to enroll has violated his student status.
      • They may have stayed for a longer period than was authorized.
      • Or they may have done something that was not authorized, such as a visitor who decides he likes New York, finds a job, and stays, or committed a crime.

      And there it is in a nutshell. There are other quite minor categories, but for our purposes they are irrelevant.

      An important fact to remember is that any alien may be required to leave the United States, even forcibly if that is what it takes, but it is a legal process that has many of the same procedural safeguards as do criminal trials. We'll discuss that later, too.