Marilyn Wood: There’s a difference between migrants and immigrants
I have noticed a new trend in news reporting. The word “migrant” is being used in place of “immigrant.” A migrant is a person who moves from one place to another within a country. My parents were migrants who came to California from Oklahoma and Texas in the early 1940s.
An immigrant is a person who moves from one country from another.
Precision in speech helps us to clearly communicate. Using migrant in place of immigrant does not lend itself to to better understand the issue being discussed.
Marilyn Wood, Modesto
This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Marilyn Wood: There’s a difference between migrants and immigrants."