ALIEN

10 definitions found across Law Mind sources

ALIENAuthored
The Law Mind • 1481 words • Verified
Definition
A person who is not a citizen or national of the country in question. In United States law, an alien is any person present within the United States who has not acquired citizenship through birth or naturalization. The term is used principally in immigration law, constitutional law, and property law to define the legal status and corresponding rights of non-citizens. Two broad categories structure most legal analysis: 1. Resident alien: A non-citizen who has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, commonly called a "lawful permanent resident" or "green card holder." Resident aliens generally enjoy most civil protections but remain subject to deportation and are ineligible for certain federal benefits and offices. 2. Non-resident alien: A non-citizen who has not been granted lawful permanent residence. This category includes tourists, students on temporary visas, undocumented persons, and others whose legal status does not confer permanent residency rights. In property law, the term historically carried significant weight: aliens were restricted or entirely prohibited from owning real property in many jurisdictions, a limitation that has been largely (though not uniformly) abolished by statute and constitutional interpretation. ---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A person from outside the group or territory under consideration; in popular culture, a life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin; more narrowly, a citizen or national of another sovereign state. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): One not belonging to the same country, land, or government; foreign; wholly different in nature; adverse or inconsistent with. Webster's specifically noted the legal sub-sense "Alien enemy" as one owing allegiance to a hostile power. The gap matters here: the extraterrestrial sense of "alien" has become so dominant in general usage that modern readers sometimes read historical legal texts with unwarranted irony. More practically, the ordinary sense of "foreigner" or "outsider" is broader than the legal sense: a person can be a foreigner in everyday speech (a Texan visiting New York) without being a legal alien. The legal definition turns on national citizenship and allegiance, not on cultural or geographic distance. ---
Common Confusion
ALIEN vs. IMMIGRANT vs. NON-CITIZEN: These terms overlap but are not interchangeable. "Alien" is the formal statutory term used in the Immigration and Nationality Act and in older common law; "immigrant" has a specific meaning in immigration law (a person admitted for lawful permanent residence) that excludes most temporary visa holders; "non-citizen" is a broader and more neutral descriptor that encompasses the same population as "alien" but appears less frequently in older legal sources. Researchers should not treat these as synonyms when working with historical or statutory material. ALIEN vs. ALIEN ENEMY: The phrase "alien enemy" is a distinct legal category referring to a national of a country with which the United States (or England, in common law) is at war. Alien enemies historically faced severe restrictions on access to courts and property rights that did not apply to aliens generally. The distinction appears in wartime statutes and prize law and is easily missed in older sources that use "alien" alone. ---
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES Lawful Permanent Resident (Resident Alien): Admitted for permanent residence under federal immigration law; holds most civil rights but not citizenship. Non-Resident Alien: Present in the country without permanent resident status; includes documented temporary visitors and undocumented persons. Alien Enemy: A national of a country at war with the host nation; subject to special restrictions on property, court access, and liberty under wartime law and treaty. Alien Friend: The correlative historical term for an alien national of a country at peace with the host nation; used in early American constitutional debate and in the Alien and Sedition Acts context. Illegal Alien / Undocumented Alien: Terms used in older federal statutes and case law for persons present without lawful authorization. Modern administrative usage increasingly substitutes "undocumented person" or "unauthorized alien," though "illegal alien" remains in some statutory text. ---
Why It Matters in Research
The word "alien" has not changed its legal core meaning much — it still means a non-citizen — but what that status entails has changed enormously, and researchers must track those changes carefully. In property law sources predating the mid-twentieth century, alien status was a genuine disability. Aliens could not own land in many states; treaties determined whether particular classes of aliens could inherit. A researcher reading a deed, will, or equity case from the nineteenth century should flag any mention of alien status because it may control the outcome of the transaction in ways invisible to a modern reader accustomed to the current framework. In constitutional law, the corpus contains materials spanning the period when aliens were thought to have virtually no constitutional protection to the modern framework in which lawful resident aliens hold substantial due process and equal protection rights. The line between these eras is not clean, and Law Mind sources reflect the transition at different stages depending on date of publication. In immigration law, the statutory vocabulary is peculiar to its era. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 uses "alien" throughout, and Law Mind encyclopedia and primary source materials will mirror that language. Cross-referencing between older dictionary entries (which track common law categories like "alien friend" and "alien enemy") and modern immigration materials requires care — the categories do not map cleanly. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 are a research node where constitutional, political, and property law discussions converge. Sources treating that period use "alien" in both the technical and the polemical sense, and the distinction between "alien friend" and "alien enemy" was politically charged in ways that affect how period sources frame the analysis. Naturalization doctrine intersects here: once naturalized, a person ceases to be an alien, but historical sources vary on the date, process, and retroactive effect of naturalization, particularly for women and children whose status was historically derivative of a male head of household. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries converge on the core definition with notable consistency: an alien is one born outside the king's dominion (English law) or outside the jurisdiction of the United States who has not been naturalized (American law). Burrill, Black, and Rapalje & Lawrence all frame the definition around birth and allegiance, tracking Littleton and Coke directly. Rapalje & Lawrence provide the most careful doctrinal framing, noting that children of ambassadors and foreign ministers born abroad are not aliens — a qualification reflecting the jus soli/diplomatic immunity exception that the other dictionaries understate. This is a useful reminder that "born outside the jurisdiction" is not a simple geographic test. Anderson's introduces a California-specific gloss, equating "alien" with "non-resident" in that jurisdiction's usage — a usage that would be analytically wrong under federal law and illustrates how state property statutes sometimes bent federal-law vocabulary to local purposes. Researchers using Anderson's for California property questions should treat this note as a warning flag, not a definition. Black's (2nd Ed.) notably includes "a person resident in one country, but owing allegiance to another" as part of its definition, which captures the allegiance-based theory of alienage more explicitly than birth alone. This framing matters for cases involving naturalized citizens who retained foreign allegiance, a question that generated substantial litigation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. None of the historical dictionaries adequately address the post-1952 statutory framework or the constitutional developments beginning with cases in the 1970s that extended equal protection to resident aliens. Researchers relying solely on these sources will have an accurate picture of the common law baseline but a misleading picture of modern law. ---
Jurisdictional Note
Federal law (primarily the Immigration and Nationality Act) supplies the controlling definition of alien for immigration and naturalization purposes nationwide. State law variation matters most in property and inheritance contexts: several states retain or historically retained statutes restricting alien land ownership, some of which were upheld as applied to specific national groups and later struck down or repealed. Researchers working on property questions should verify the applicable state's alien land law history independently. ---
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
The Law Mind Trusts, Estates & Probate Encyclopedia: Spendthrift Trusts — Restraints on Alienation and Creditor Access (estates_90). Note: this entry addresses alienation of property interests, not alien status — the connection is terminological, not substantive. Consult only if researching restraints on transfer in the context of alien-owned property. The Law Mind Family Law Encyclopedia: Family Law — Interference with Parental Rights (Custodial Interference, Alienation) (family_207); Family Law — Parental Alienation — Assessment and Judicial Response (family_208). Note: "alienation" in these entries refers to parental alienation doctrine, not alien status. No substantive connection to this entry. ---
Related Terms
Naturalization | Citizenship | Domicile | Allegiance | Alien Enemy | Alien Friend | Deportation | Expatriation | Denizen | Immigration | Jus Soli | Jus Sanguinis | Non-Resident | Undocumented Person | Resident Alien
ALIENmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
it must be established by a preponderance of proof; 30 Vt. 377; 5 Cush. 124; 20 Pa. 429; 81 Ill. 565; 24 Iowa 570; 62 id. 40. See remarks of Shaw, C. J., in Webster's Case, and 2 Alison's Cr. L. of Scotland, 624; Bish. Crim. L. 1061-1068. In many states the defence is established if the evidence raises. in the minds of the jury a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant; 100 Mo. 628; 28 Fla. 511; 94 Ala. 14; 64 Cal. 253; 70 Ga. 651: 62 Ia. 40; 50 Ind. 190; 50 Mich. 233; and if the testimony tends to prove an alibi, failure to instruct thereon is error; 85 Ga. 666. An instruction that an alibi need not be established beyond a reasonable doubt, but it should be to the satisfaction of the jury, is correct; 117 N. Y. 480; 28 Tex. App. 566; 107 III. 162; 81 Mo. 185; 67 Ga. 349. It is peculiarly liable to be sup- ported by perjury and false testimony of all sorts. There must be satisfactory proof that the prisoner could not have been at the place where the crime was committed, but the proof need not be higher than is re- quired as to other facts; 59 Ga. 142. See 48 Iowa 583; 69 Cal. 552. ALIEN (Lat. alienus, belonging to an- other; foreign). A foreigner; one of for- eign birth. In England, one born out of the allegiance of the king. In the United States, one born out of the jurisdiction of the United States, and who has not been naturalized under their con- stitution and laws. 2 Kent 50. The chil- dren of ambassadors and ministers at for- eign courts, however, are not aliens. And see 10 U. S. Stat. 604. Persons born in a foreign country of American parents, who, though residing there, still claim citizen- ship, are citizens of the United States; 50 Fed. Rep. 310; so if the father only is a citizen; Rev. St. § 1993. An alien woman by marriage with a citizen of the United States becomes a citizen; but the converse, that a citizen woman by marriage with an alien becomes an alien, is not law; 56 Fed. Rep. 556. The right to exclude or to expel aliens in war or in peace is an inherent and inalienable right of every sovereign and independent nation; 149 U. S. 698; and in the United States, Congress may ex- clude aliens altogether from its territory and prescribe the conditions upon which they may come to this country, and may have its policy in that respect enforced exclusively through executive officers with- out judicial intervention; 12 Wall. 457; 130 Ừ. S. 581; 142 id. 651; 158 U. S. 438. An alien cannot in general acquire title to real estate by descent, or by other mere operation of law; 7 Co. 25 a; 1 Ventr. 417; 3 Johns. Cas. 109; Hard. 61; 133 U. S. 265; and if he purchase land, he may be divested of the fee, upon an inquest of office found; but until this is done he may sell, convey, or devise the lands and pass a good title to the same; 4 Wheat. 453; 12 Mass. 143; 6 Johns. Ch. 365; 7 N. H. 475; 1 Washb. R. P. 49. The disabilities of aliens in respect to holding lands are removed by statute in many of the states of the United States; in Alabama, wholly; Rev. Code, 1886, § 1914; in Arizona, as our citizens in the alien's country; Rev. Stat. 1887, § 1472; in Ar- kansas, wholly; S. & H. Dig. 1894, § 247; Cal- ifornia, wholly, if resident; if non-resident, must appear and claim within five years; Civ. Code, 1885, § 671; Colorado, wholly; Laws, 1891, p. 20; Connecticut, if resident, wholly; if non-resident, only for certain purposes; Gen. Stat. 1888, §15; Delaware, after declaration of intention to become citizens; Rev. Code, 1893, c. 81, § 1; all conveyances to aliens prior to Feb. 1, 1892, are legalized; Laws, 1893, ch. 769; Florida, wholly Const. 1887, Decl. of Rights, § 18; Georgia, wholly, so long as alien government is at peace with U. S.; Rev. Code, 1882, § 1661; Idaho, wholly, after declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States; Laws, 1890- 1891, p. 108; Illinois, wholly, after declara- tion of intention to become a citizen of the United States, but non-residents, not; Myers, Rev. Stat. 1895, p. 95; Indiana, wholly; 2 Burns, Rev. Stat. 1894, § 3389; see § 3328; Iowa, residents, wholly; non-res- idents, not; Miller, Rev. Code, 1888, p. 708; Kansas, resident, for six years, after hav- ing declared intention to become a citizen of the U. S. with forfeiture of citizenship not acquired within that time; non-res- idents, not at all; Laws, 1891, ch. iii.; Kentucky, not being an enemy, wholly, after declaration of intention to become a citizen of U. S.; a resident alien may hold for twenty-one years for actual residence, ocси- pation or business purposes, a non-resident alien may take and hold by descent or devise, but must alienate within eight years there- after; B. & C. Stat. 1894, §§ 334, 337, 388; Louisiana, under the civil law; incapable of taking by will or inheritance; 2 Dom. Civ. L. § 2502; but incapacity ceases with natu- ralization; id. § 2511; Maine, wholly; Rev. Stat. 1884, c. 73, § 2; Maryland, wholly. if not enemies; Pub. Gen. L. 1888, art. iii. §1; Massachusetts, wholly;
ALIENmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
Citizen and resident (q. v.) are not synonymous, and in some cases the dis- tinction is important (cf. 248 U.' S. 470). 252 U. S. 78. Citizenship, not residence, confers the right to sue in the Federal courts; 63 Fed. Rep. 878. See Reno. Non-Residents, c. vii. Corporations are citizens of the state by which they are created, irrespective of the citizenship of their members; 8 Wall. 168; 106 U. S. 118. If two corporations created by different states, are consolidated each still retains its own citizenship for purposes of suit; 186 U. S. 356; 66 Fed. Rep. 655. See Reno. Non-Residents, § 104. There is an indisputable legal presump- tion that a state corporation, when sued or suing in a circuit court of the United States, is composed of citizens of the state which created it. A railroad company organized under the laws of one state and authorized by its own state, may accept authority from another state to extend its railroad into such state and to control rail- roads therein. Such corporations may be treated by each of the states as domestic corporations. The presumption that a cor- poration is composed of citizens of the state which created it accompanies it when it does business in another state, and it may sue or be sued in the Federal courts in such other state as a citizen of the state of its original creation; 161 U. S. 545.
ALIENmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888
- NORMAN-FRENCH: alien, apparently from Latin, alienigena, "one born in a strange country, under the obedience of a strange prince or country." Co. Litt. 128b; Bracton 427 b. One born in a foreign country, or out of the jurisdiction of the United States, and who has not been naturalized under the constitution and laws. But children of ambassadors and foreign ministers, though born abroad, are citizens; so are, in some cases, foreign-born wives of naturalized citizens. See ANTENATUS. 334 b. (not to, covenant by lessee). 1 Dyer (to B., covenant not to). 1 Dyer 45 a. (without license). Doug. 184; Dyer ALIEN, BARGAIN, SELL, (in a deed). Cro. Jac. 210.
ALIENa.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign; as, alien subjects, enemies, property, shores. Wholly different in nature; foreign; adverse; inconsistent (with); incongruous; -- followed by from or sometimes by to; as, principles alien from our religion. An alien sound of melancholy. Wordsworth. Alien enemy (Law), one who owes allegiance to a government at war with ours. Abbott.
ALIENn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
A foreigner; one owing allegiance, or belonging, to another country; a foreign-born resident of a country in which he does not posses the privileges of a citizen. Hence, a stranger. See Alienage. One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged; as, aliens from God's mercies. Aliens from the common wealth of Israel. Ephes. ii. 12.
ALIENv.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
To alienate; to estrange; to transfer, as property or ownership. [R.] "It the son alien lands." Sir M. Hale. The prince was totally aliened from all thoughts of . . . the marriage. Clarendon.
aliennoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
A person, animal, plant, or other thing which is from outside the family, group, organization, or territory under consideration. | A citizen or national of another sovereign state. | A mischievous or suspicious foreigner. | Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin. | One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged.
alienadj
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign. | Very unfamiliar, strange, or removed. | Pertaining to extraterrestrial life; typical of an extraterrestrial creature.
alienverb
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
To estrange; to alienate. | To transfer the ownership of something.

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