Aliens in this country clearly have an image problem. No, I am not talking about aliens of the Steven Spielberg variety, not those frequently sighted by tabloid reporters when presenting their front-page exposes.

I mean those aliens who have ventured thousands of miles from home to partake of the American way of life. At Carbondale alone, there are over 2,000 aliens teaching student, attending classes, and eating pizza at local institutions.

Aliens seem to be everywhere and presumably in need of assistance. Recently, just to handle all the tax problems aliens have caused SIUC, university administrators created the novel position of non-resident alien tax specialist. To further assist perplexed aliens (or perhaps inquiring locals), the university has plastered numerous signs at strategic sites proclaiming Alien Information.

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Alas, sympathy for aliens does little to endear curious creatures to this great land. The sticky point is that aliens do not like being called aliens.

Years ago, when I lived in Australia (simply as a resident, not an alien, I might add), I encountered an Australian who had lived in the United States for three years. She immediately accosted me with:Why do you Americans call everyone form another country an alien? I responded meekly, Well, that’s just the way immigration officials have always classified visitors. They really don’t mean anything by it. Not satisfied with that response, the Australian continued her tirade against having been classified as an alien. Unfortunately, I could offer no further solace.

Visitors from other countries take offense to the word alien. Why shouldn’t they? Over time, the word has attracted a number of sinister or unsavory meanings. Aliens in science fiction conjure up horrific monsters slathering rubbery gunk over barren craters. Aliens of the illegal sort trigger knee-jerk reactions to purported invasions of our hospitals, schools, and workplaces.

Old habits die hard, though. Immigration officials seem to relish the term alien and give little indication that this offensive terminology will become politically incorrect. Terms like colored, idiot, and cripple, once used to legally classify other defamed individuals, have long been discarded because of lobbying by affected persons or representatives. However, as a lobby group, foreigners simply lack clout and organization. A Million Alien March in Washington protesting the word alien remains inconceivable.

Regardless of the Statue of Liberty’s exhortation to give us the tired, huddled, masses of newcomers, our welcome has been, at times, a mixed bag. The foreigner experiences discrimination in subtle, unique ways. Americans may distrust visitors when the United States becomes entangled in politics of the visitors’ home country. We may also expect visitors to know all about our customs. When we discover they don’t, we scoff at their ignorance.

Visitors come to this country form all corners of the world. Many have stayed for years, no always assimilating with prevailing customs, but always enriching our land with culinary skills, financial resources, and ambitious labor. Many eventually become American citizens, the sole refuge from the alien label. Considering the tremendous benefits foreigners have bestowed upon this country, no greater gift could be offered in return that to officially reclassify aliens as either visitors or residents. That’s the least this country could do for those from abroad who have cast their lot in the land of unlimited possibilities.