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I stand corrected: Refuge vs Immigrant

BabaluBlog pointed out a mistake in terms, one I have been making.

Since so many of the protesters are skipping school to take back their lands via la Reconquista, I thought I'd offer up a quick vocabulary lesson that will hopefully clear up the "we're the same" misconception:

ref·u·gee n. One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.

im·mi·grant n. A person who leaves one country to settle permanently in another.

Contrary to what today's media prefers to call Cubans who risk their lives to reach US shores - lately the term has been "migrants" - those Cubans are fleeing political oppression and are, thus, refugees. As I stated in a previous post, when Mexican "migrants" are faced with systematic violations of every basic human and civil right as the people of Cuba are, then perhaps I would accept a similarity.

So, I stand corrected--I am not a son of immigrants, but of refugees. Flag burning? Che? I am with Val--don't come looking for support or sympathy with me! I don't know about you, but I have had enough of socialism's effects in Latin America.

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