Definitions

Immigrant

An Immigrant is an individual who willingly leaves their country of origin and legally enters another country where they are granted permission to permanently resettle. Their reasons for wanting to resettle can vary from a longing for economic prosperity or a better education to the fulfillment of a dream for reunion with family.

Asylum Seeker

An asylum seeker is a person who has left their country and is seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country but who hasn’t yet been legally recognized as a refugee and is waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim.

Migrant

A migrant is a broad term that applies to an individual who willingly leaves home and moves from one place to another. There is no internationally accepted legal definition of a migrant. Many understand migrants to be people staying outside their country of origin who are not asylum seekers or refugees.

Refugee

Someone who has “been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence.” The U.S. government further defines a refugee as someone who may “face persecution based on religion, political opinion, race, nationality or membership in a particular social group.”  Those who obtain refugee status are given protections under international laws and conventions and lifesaving support from aid agencies.

One common thread between these groups is that they face circumstances where leaving the place of their birth was the better option than remaining home.

Sources: calmatters.org, amnesty.org, and preemptivelove.org.