not sure if Kitty O is an immigrant, legal, illegal....after all, we got him from a shelter where he was in a cage, looking piteous. But he is here now, and though we can't declare him as a dependent on our income taxes, he is part of the family and I would hate to think of anyone taking him away.
It's the same with words. As a writer, I use words that have migrated into the English language. English, of all the languages I know, is the greatest vacuum cleaner of all, sucking in words from German, Greek and Latin, of course, but also French, Spanish, Hindi, Norwegian, the list goes on and on. Indeed, vacuum is from Latin!
So here we all are, living in various states such as Montana (Spanish for mountain), Florida (flowery), or better yet, New Mexico, in cities like Monterey (king's mountain), the western ranch, rodeo and ten gallon hat are all from down under the good ole USA, heck, even the word embargo is taken from Spanish.
I'm I grant you, not political, I'm just a writer, amazed at what happens over time, when borders get blurry.
I get to write "The Girl Who Went Missing," a book set in India, on the horrific topic of human trafficking which knows no borders, and I do that using words from many languages.
Amazing, isn't it, to live in such a world?
Ask where the word comes from, you might be very surprised.
Perhaps as surprised as Kitty O learning he is not human.