Read this and initially thought this was unrelated to the my initial point on offensive language, but since you brought it up and since I haven't given the distinction of "migrant" vs. "refugee" much thought, here's my likely immature, not-too-fully-informed reaction: I agree with you with regards to the value of this distinction, and emphasis of these people as "refugees" not just in the context of the government but also surrounding institutions that hold sway with government officials and voting blocks. But I also see the use of "migrants" in this context as being a weasel word that stems from those countries not wanting to accept the people in the first place, rather than vice versa. I haven't been following the EU vs. Syria events though, past listening to a rant on why the US, UK, and Poland should take responsibility for the refugees. So I say the things above from a PoV of ignorance. -- With regards to Mexico, I'm on the same page as you as seeing those people as refugees (and not migrants!) fleeing from a situation that the US largely helped create via drug / economic / agricultural policies. And to some extent, I believe the US should be held accountable to both relieve the drivers of the unfavorable conditions in Mexico as well as extend relief to those who have already left the country. However, the context that is usually discussed of "undocumented" vs. "illegal" among my peers (who have usually already assumed the following "migrant") has struck me as splitting hairs over PC terminology and not really addressing the fundamental questions of why these people want to leave their homes. And I've found that by the time you get around to arguing for one or the other, people have already made up their minds about the underlying question of whether those people deserve to be in the US in the first place. Maybe one word is more correct, but arguing over that has always struck me as a bit of red herring and all around less important compared to other discussions on the topic...This is the only thing that I have a general disagreement with you about. They way we define immigrants, migrants and refugees has a HUGE repercussion on how they are treated under law.