Immigrant: What's in a label?

What’s in a label?

Do you remember back in high school when they told you that one effective way of starting an essay is with a definition (preferably taken from the Oxford English Dictionary)? Well I figured I could start with some definitions for clarity. I’ve found it really helps a discussion when everyone is on the same page.

Why do we all need to be on the same page you ask? “I already know what an immigrant is…” you might have just mumbled to your computer/laptop/tablet/phone screen. Well, I have personally experienced and witnessed confusion and ignorance about what it means to be an immigrant. Often, what I hear from others shows that they are confusing immigrants with refugees, and this causes them to misunderstand the whole system and get pretty upset about the issues for the wrong reasons. So, let’s all be clear on what we’re talking about here:

[Note: I’m going to get these definitions from Microsoft Word with the ol’ right click>look up method since not everyone has a fancy OED laying around and some skeptics might want to verify that I am not misrepresenting the facts or making up my own definitions.]

Immigrant: (noun)
1.      somebody settling in country
a.      a newcomer to a country who has settled there
(adjective)
1.      settling in another country
a.      relating to those who have come to settle in another country

Expatriate: (noun)
1.      somebody who has moved abroad
a.      a citizen who has left his or her own country to live in another, usually for a prolonged period
2.      somebody without citizenship
a.      a citizen who has renounced his or her citizenship or whose citizenship has been revoked.

Emigrant: (noun)
1.      somebody who moves to another country
a.      somebody who leaves a place, especially his or her native country, to go and live elsewhere

Refugee: (noun)
1.      somebody seeking safe place
a.      somebody who seeks or takes refuge in a foreign country, especially to avoid war or persecution

So according to Microsoft Word, all of these words are synonyms for each other. That is, they have similar meanings. Similar meanings do not mean they are exactly the same, though. Each of the above words has a slightly different definition. They are not necessarily interchangeable.

Here’s how I interpret these different words and meanings:

-An immigrant is a person who has settled in Canada. Settling implies that they have established themselves in our country. These are the sort of people who come here not only to work but to establish their lives in Canada. They want to stay and grow in Canada.

-An expatriate is mostly clearly separated from an immigrant by the words “prolonged period” in the definition above. To me, this implies that although an expatriate is living in a country they might not be intentionally putting down roots there. (That’s not to say they won’t fall in love with Canada and end up staying forever… this country does tend to grow on you, I think.)

-An emigrant is the synonym that has the most similar meaning to immigrant, in my opinion. The big difference, for me, is that emigrant is about leaving and immigrant is about arriving. You emigrate from one country and immigrate into another.

-A refugee is different from an immigrant in my opinion. The definitions seem to suggest that immigrants make a conscious decision to leave one place and establish themselves in another, new place whereas refugees may not necessarily choose to leave their country but fell it is not safe for them there or that they have to leave for their safety. Refugees might arrive in Canada without a job lined up and with poor English or French skills or they might be highly employable and have excellent language skills. They may not have chosen Canada specifically to flee to and any safe country might have done just as well, or they might have heard Canada was a place that they could seek refuge in. Everyone’s personal case could be wildly different so it is important not to assume all refugees are the same or come from the same kind of situation.

So, you’ve read what I think… What do you think? What do these words make you think about?

 If you came to Canada from another country, which word do you use to describe yourself? Do any of these terms accurately describe how you feel? Do you feel there is more stigma attached to one term or another?

The floor is all yours in the comments section!

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