The terms emigrant and immigrant are often confused. An emigrant leaves their country to live in another, while an immigrant is someone who previously lived elsewhere and now resides in your country. The distinction can be remembered by “to” and “from” and by realizing that an immigrant is a new member of a society.
The terms emigrant and immigrant are often used incorrectly, creating confusion at best and annoyance at worst for English teachers. In general, understanding proper usage can help dispel confusion or quell blacksmiths’ anger. An emigrant leaves his homeland to live in another country. The person is emigrating to another country. An immigrant is a person who once resided somewhere else and now lives in your country.
For example, a Swedish woman decides to move to America. For herself, and for the country of Sweden, the woman is an emigrant to America. To her new American neighbors, the woman is an immigrant from Sweden, which implies that she’s been somewhere else, and now she’s here, wherever she is here. Which term is used depends on whether or not she is being referred to from the point of view of the United States or Sweden.
Emigration is the actual act of moving from a country. The person who goes from one place to another is in the process of emigrating. The Swedish woman remains an emigrant to her countrymen. To other Americans she is an immigrant, because she traveled somewhere else.
During the French Revolution, people who had left France due to the escalation of tension and violence in France were treated with contempt if they returned to France. A person could be labeled an Emigrant if they returned to France during the Reign of Terror or shortly thereafter. The term was meant to signify perhaps criminal behavior in fleeing France, as well as such people leaving the country.
When someone discusses their ancestors who “immigrated” to the United States, they are wrong. These people were emigrants to the United States. Since the speaker is a US citizen, at least in this example, his ancestors were immigrants, implying that they came from somewhere not “here.”
In general, the distinction can be reduced to the prepositions “to” and “from”. When a person moves to a place, he is an emigrant, but when he is an immigrant, he has moved from a place. Since technically an individual can be both, it makes things pretty confusing.
If the speaker or writer can remember that people “migrate to” and “immigrate from,” this helps separate the two terms. It can also be helpful to realize that an immigrant is a new member of a society. An emigrant, on the other hand, leaves his own country.
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