As for DK’s post, what bothers me about this is the way it defines “hate speech” down. To these people if something reflects a judgment they don’t agree with, they want to suppress it. Personally I try to avoid unnecessary offense, but sometimes you have to use the right terms and make judgments.

Dictionary.com:

“il⋅le⋅gal
   /ɪˈligəl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [i-lee-guhl] Show IPA
–adjective
1. forbidden by law or statute.
2. contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.: The referee ruled that it was an illegal forward pass. ”

Nothing whatsoever in there about “illegal” only applying to criminal law violations. You might not like the term, but it’s perfectly accurate, and your claim that it isn’t is disingenuous nonsense.

I had to explain to two sets of Israeli parents why their sons who had authorized stay from the USCIS (having timely filed for change of status prior to expiration of their current status and awaiting adjudication of same) were being detained by ICE for lacking status. One can have have authorized stay and even work authorization without having status. One branch (USCIS) of DHS (Dept of Homeland Security) recognizes both. The CBP branch (Customs Border Protection) recognizes only the authority to work, but not to be here. And ICE (Immig. & Customs Enforcement) recognizes nothing outside of status.

So, the Israelis authorized to stay and told they were just fine by immigration and their university’s designated school official were pulled off at a traffic stop and detained. They spent 46 days in jail.

You can label them illegal all you want but no one who doesn’t practice immigration law is going to appreciate the complexities involved. Second, even WILLFUL violations are not criminal but merely civil. Again, the term’ illegal alien’ is just incorrect however pervasive its use.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.”

You are so freaking funny.