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Article: Aliens
- Article from:
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law
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ALIENS
Foreign-born persons who have not been naturalized to become U.S. citizens under federal law and the Constitution.
The federal immigration laws determine whether a person is an alien. Generally, a person born in a foreign country is an alien, but a child born in
a foreign nation to parents who are U.S. citizens is a U.S. citizen. The term
alien
also refers to a native-born U.S. citizen who has relinquished U.S. citizenship by living and acquiring citizenship in another country. Aliens are categorized in several ways: resident and nonresident, immigrant and nonimmigrant, documented and undocumented ("illegal").
Overview
The United States welcomes a large number of aliens every ...