Through most of 2025, Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Armando Ábrego García has been in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). Since his initial arrest in March 2025, he has been transferred to detention facilities in Maryland, Texas, El Salvador, and Tennessee. As of early September, his case against deportation was still pending, and he continues to generate news headlines. Depending on the publication, he’s described as an illegal immigrant or an undocumented migrant, thus begging the question: What’s the correct term for his status?
Legal Accuracy against Connotation
Ábrego is a registered asylum applicant who hasn’t been convicted of any crimes, so the undocumented and illegal labels don’t apply. He crossed the U.S. southern border without inspection, but as a San Diego immigration lawyer would tell you, his request for asylum granted amnesty for his illegal entry, thus documenting his status.
When U.S. officials like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem call Ábrego an illegal immigrant, they’re pushing a connotation for the sake of political grandstanding. Semantically speaking, both “illegal” and “undocumented” refer to the same group of foreigners whose legal status to remain in the U.S. hasn’t been officially certified. For the sake of accuracy, they’re noncitizens or foreigners without regular status. However, these aren’t terms U.S. courts use.
Let’s say an Indonesian woman obtained a green card after marrying an American citizen through the K-1 visa program. If she’s later accused of entering a fraudulent marriage, she could end up in immigration court, and the court documents would refer to her as an alien. Many judges don’t like this term because it sounds like they’re referring to extraterrestrial beings. Nonetheless, they have to because of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA), which is codified in Title 8 of the U.S. Code. Court documents try to minimize the use of the official term, mostly referring to the respondents by their family names.
Until the INA is amended, the legal term for noncitizens and foreigners will continue to be “aliens.” As for status, immigration law firms, officials, and courts don’t use illegal or undocumented because they don’t make specific sense. In the Code of Federal Regulations and the manuals implementing the INA, the lack of official status of foreigners in the U.S. includes:
- Unlawfully present – Foreigners in the U.S. without legal permission
- Inadmissible – Foreigners seeking to enter the U.S. without meeting the legal requirements for entry
- Deportable – Foreigners who have already been legally admitted to the U.S. but violated the terms of their admission
- Removable – Foreigners with deportation orders issued by federal judges*
- Entered without inspection (EWI) – What many Americans refer to as “illegal immigrants”—foreigners who crossed the border without being inspected and admitted
- Overstay status – Admissible foreigners who entered legally with visas but later remained in the country after their visas expired
*This term also applies to noncitizens who meet specific criteria for expedited removal by Border Patrol agents, often when they agree to turn back across the border.
If they need help from attorneys with extensive experience in the laws surrounding immigration, San Diego residents should contact KS Visa Law. From family-based immigration to naturalization procedures, we can address all your immigration-related needs. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
