Undocumented immigrant

Illegal immigration is the entry of a person or a group of persons across a country's border, in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country, with the intention to remain in the country. Many countries have had or currently have laws restricting immigration. Whether a person is permitted to stay in a country legally may be decided by quotas or point systems or may be based on considerations such as family ties. Article 13 on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares the right to leave any country, including one's own, to be a fundamental human right.

Illegal immigration, as well as immigration in general, is overwhelmingly upward, from a poorer to a richer country. However, it is also noted that illegal immigrants tend not to be the poorest within the populations they emigrate from.

Reasons for taking the risk of living illegaly in another country are not only the expected improvements in income and living conditions, but also the hope of eventually being allowed to remain in the country legally, as there may be a path to becoming naturalized. Living in another country illegally includes a variety of restrictions as well as the risk of being detained and deported or of facing other sanctions. If the status of being illegal is any way perceivable to host community residents, illigal migrants may additionally face visible or verbal disdain.

There have been campaigns in many countries since 2007 discouraging the use of the term "illegal immigrant". They are generally based on the argument that the act of immigrating illegally does not make the people themselves illegal. In the United States, a "Drop the I-Word" campaign was launched in 2010 advocating for the use of terms such as "undocumented immigrants" or "unauthorized immigrants" when referring to the foreign nationals who reside in a country illegally.

News associations that have discontinued or discourage the use of the adjective "illegal" to describe people include the US Associated Press, UK Press Association, European Journalism Observatory,European Journalism Centre,Association of European Journalists, Australian Press Council, and Australian Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

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