undocumented immigrant

undocumented immigrant (plural undocumented immigrants)

1. An immigrant who has entered a country (often as a migrant worker) and has no documentation authorizing them to (still) be present there.

   Synonyms: (US) undocumented alien, (Australia) unlawful non-citizen, (sometimes offensive) illegal alien, (sometimes offensive) illegal immigrant, (offensive) illegal, (offensive) crimmigrant

   • 1978, Orange County (Calif.). Task Force on Medical Care for Illegal Aliens, The Economic Impact of Undocumented Immigrants on Public Health Services in Orange County: Final Report Presented to the Board of Supervisors:

     All the research studies found a very low rate of social service utilization by undocumented immigrants.

   • 1989, John Willshire Carrera, Educating Undocumented Children: A Review of Practices and Policies (an ERIC/CRESS Trends and Issues Paper), page 32:

     Rulings that ensure from these cases apply to varying degrees to undocumented immigrant students as well as to legal immigrant students.

   • 2001, South African Law Commission, Review of the Child Care Act, page 1123:

     However, an accompanied undocumented immigrant child should not be removed from his or her family , unless there are grounds for removal in terms of section 14(4) of the Child Care Act, 1983.

   • 2025 January 26, Priscilla Alvarez and Rosa Flores, “Trump administration launches nationwide immigration enforcement blitz”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     In the Atlanta suburb of Lilburn, ICE agents arrested Walter Valladares, a 53-year-old undocumented immigrant from Honduras, according to family members who spoke with CNN.