Why they call it ‘institutional’

Via Colorlines:  “Georgia 3rd Graders asked what U.S. does to ‘illegal aliens’”

Does it:

a. Put them to work in the army?

b. Shoot them into outer space?

c. Put them to death?

or d. Send them back where they came from?

The homework assignment with this question came from edhelper.com, a subscription service that provides worksheets on a number of subjects for teachers.

I took a look over there to get an idea of its offerings.  There is a whole immigration unit on the website.  If your second and third graders missed the “What is an Illegal Alien?” worksheet (which you can view here), they can repeat in fifth to seventh grade.

There’s also a piece on “Immigrant to Citizen” for grades seven through nine:

Any person who is not a resident of the country being entered is called an alien. When an alien wants to stay for a period of time in another country, a visa must be obtained. A visa is an official stamp giving permission to enter a specific country. If a person enters a country without a passport or the necessary visa, that person is undocumented, or an illegal alien. If caught without the proper papers, an illegal alien will be sent back to the country from which he or she came.

There are two different kinds of visas. A nonimmigrant visa is given to people who are visiting a country as tourists. They may be on vacation or there for business. Normally, the alien is not allowed to get a job and work when using a nonimmigrant visa.

Where to start with this? The first sentence seems to contradict the term “resident alien.” And visas aren’t necessarily required by all countries. Plus a visa isn’t necessarily just a stamp, nor are there just two types of visas. But whatever. Explaining the CIS probably wouldn’t fit on a one-page worksheet.

The answer to the question, kiddies, is a., c., and d. As far as I know, we haven’t sent any undocumented immigrants to space yet.

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