Don't panic: 'Overstaying' different from 'undocumented'

"Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them." --Thomas Sowell

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- This could be a heightened emotional rather than political issue.
President-elect Donald J. Trump may have taken a tough stand on immigration issues during the campaign period, but it remains to be seen how will his incoming Republican administration implement the feared mass deportation of "illegal aliens" estimated to be around 11.5 million in the entire United States.
While his upset win against Hillary Clinton hogged headlines days after the November 8 elections, the gnawing fear among undocumented immigrants dominated the discussions in communities that may be potentially affected by Mr. Trump's ascension to White House on January 20, 2017.
Now that real panic has beckoned, it is best if we begin with the definition of terms to describe and identify the involved parties, so as not to cause confusion, misinformation, and miscommunication.
Although the term "undocumented" should be the generic to describe those staying in the United States illegally, let us be clear about Mr. Trump's real targets--and how far can he possibly cause torments to the culturally diverse population.

ANNOUNCE

When he began lashing at "rapists and criminals" last year to unravel his intention to run for president, Mr. Trump stepped up his acrimony with a stunning proposal to build a wall in the border.
He was referring to the Mexicans or the Latinos from Spanish-speaking countries and territories who used the U.S.-Mexico border to sneak illegally into the mainland USA.
This group of "illegal immigrants" are considered "undocumented" because they entered without legal papers or government-issued identification cards, among other valid documents after outsmarting border patrols.
To add insult, some of them commit criminal acts and violate the laws, thus their chances of being deported swiftly become certain.
Some Chinese and Cuban nationals, who arrived under mysterious circumstances, may also be classified as "undocumented" because, like some tricky Latinos, they have no passports, birth certificates, among other legal papers, when they set foot in the US via sea.
Most of them did not go through proper immigration procedures upon entry.

ASIANS

Another group of Asians that include Indians, Filipinos, Indonesians, Malaysians, and Vietnamese who arrived on tourist or temporary visas may be classified as "overstaying" if their visas have expired and have extended their stay without authorization from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS),  a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
They may be technically called as "illegals" for having violated the terms and conditions of their visas or their failure to go back to their country of origin as specified, but they can always obtain valid documents like passports from their respective consulates. 
They can't be tagged as "undocumented".
If they did not commit a crime and their behavior is not inimical to the interest of the state, and regularly pay taxes, TNTs (Tago Ng Tago) may not be easily "harassed" into falling in line to the deportation proceedings especially if they have competent lawyers and valid or justifiable reasons for extension of stay.
There is no doubt Trump's deportation guillotine is now being sharpened, but it will take a horrific number of manpower and federal cash out to round up all the 11.5 million warm bodies without being hounded by international watchdogs and accusations of inhuman treatment when emotions start to rack up and families start to break up.