Following Laurence's legal logic then, newspapers shouldn't print the names of individuals arrested and charged with crimes, because doing so implies their guilt. Can we use "illegal aliens" if we always modify it with "suspected" illegal aliens? If a truck carrying 50 individuals across the Mexican border into Texas is stopped and the people don't have American birth certificates or passports, couldn't they reasonably be described as aliens who are illegally present in the United States? What would Laurence call these people? It seems to me that there is nothing wrong with stating that a person has been arrested and charged with the crime of being an illegal alien. That's a fact. If I enter Germany or Bangladesh secretly and without authorization, I am an illegal alien in that country. Even if I am not arrested or tried, the fact is that I am an illegal alien in that country
I do agree they shouldn't be called illegal "immigrants," because it is inaccurate; who knows if they are immigrants? They may only be here for a time with no plans to stay ad become a citizen.    

<i>If a truck carrying 50 individuals across the Mexican border into Texas is stopped and the people don't have American birth certificates or passports, couldn't they reasonably be described as aliens who are illegally present in the United States?</i>
             -Kilronan

I believe there are more accurate ways to describe the 50 people. I find nothing wrong with: 50 undocumented people were found crossing the border in a truck today. Or the undocumented people, the individuals or border officials believe all of the passengers were in the country illegally. I believe a creative journalist will be able to write around what they don't know. Until it is proven that a person is found to be guilty, an illegal alien, the winner, the nominee, etc. that assumption should not be made.

Immigration Terminology 101

With the vitriolic immigration debate roiling in all parts of our country, it is important to understand terminology. Be prepared to dispel the half-truths and no truths of the way those who are illegally in our country are described by their advocates. Knowledge is power:

ILLEGAL:
1.) Unlawful; illegitimate; illicit; unlicensed.
2.) Illegal, unlawful, illegitimate, illicit, criminal can all describe actions not in accord with law.
3.) Illegal refers most specifically to violations of statutes.
4.) Prohibited by law

ALIEN:
1.) a person who is not a citizen of the country.
2.) in the United States any person born in another country to parents who are not American and who has not become a naturalized citizen. There are resident aliens officially permitted to live in the country and illegal aliens who have sneaked into the country or stayed beyond the time allowed on a visa.

INVADE:
1. to enter like an enemy: Locusts invaded the fields
2. to enter as if to take possession: To invade a neighbor's home
3. to enter and affect injuriously or destructively, as disease: Viruses that invade the bloodstream.
4. to intrude upon: To invade the privacy of a family.
5. to encroach or infringe upon: to invade the rights of citizens.
6. to permeate: The smell of baking invades the house.
7. to penetrate; spread into or over: The population boom has caused city dwellers to invade the suburbs

Those illegally in a country are not "immigrants". There is no such thing as an "illegal immigrant". An immigrant is involved with an established and orderly procedure of immigration (entering a country to which one is not native in order to settle there by legal process).

They are not immigrants, not undocumented immigrants (Kennedy and the PC fan favorite), not undocumented workers, not undocumented Americans (Harry Reid’s favorite), not economic immigrants (Big Business and Wall Street favorite), not immigrants without work papers, not people who are working (Enrique Morone’s favorite), not migrant workers, not entrants, not day laborers and not the “unbanked” (Bill Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s favorite).

The government has defined them as "illegal aliens" and explicitly uses that term in all its laws and statutes. So keep it simple…a spade is a spade…they are illegal aliens. Or, if you’d prefer, another term that would be just as correct to use is "invaders". I would consider the two interchangeable.

One other definition is exceedingly useful since you’ll hear with every piece of amnesty legislation, the open border lobbyists, facilitators and illegal alien advocates declaring that it isn’t amnesty in the hope that you will think so. Here’s the definition of amnesty so you can decide for yourself:

AMNESTY is legislation to forgive the breaking of immigration laws and to make it possible for illegal aliens to live permanently in the United States. Amnesty represents a system of federal rewards and assistance for illegal aliens, and they entice an even greater number of foreign nationals to illegally enter a country. Amnesty is providing the ultimate goal of the perpetrators illegal entry...legalization of their presence.

AMNESTY:
1. A general pardon for offenses against a government
2. An act of forgiveness for past offenses, esp. to a class of persons as a whole
3. Forgetting or overlooking any past offense

There you have it, folks. Knowledge is power…use it wisely.

zeezil,
I applaud your logic and your response.  

Semper Fi!