Have you ever thought about it? If you are from the United States and have ever lived abroad it is a conundrum that you may have pondered at some point.
My Guatemalan husband when living in the United States for 12+ years was always an immigrant.
When I relocated from the United States to Guatemala I was, and still am, five years later, an expat. Why is that?
What is in a Definition?
Expatriate: someone who lives outside of their native country.
Immigrant: someone who comes to live permanently in another country.
It is the intent of permanent habitation that is the key difference so why then did no one ever ask?
If they had asked, my husband living in the United States would accurately have been described as an expat and alternately myself living in Guatemala now would best be described as an immigrant.
Since my husband never wanted to settle permanently in the United States and we are now permanently living as a family in Guatemala with no intention of ever leaving.
Is it Racial?
We know by definition the difference is not racial so why then are all colored people living in the United States as foreigners referred to as immigrants and all white people living abroad referred to as expats?
Is it possible that the general public’s misuse of the word immigrant and expat is an unintentional racial exclusivity?
The Connotation?
Whether we like it or not there is a negative connotation associated with the word immigrant and a positive one associated with the word expat.
Perhaps that is why white people living internationally choose to self-identify as expats and on the other hand colored people living in the United States are assigned the title of immigrants.
Poor versus rich, brown versus white, immigrant versus expat.
The Irony
It is interesting how both colored people living within the United States and white people living outside of it are both ironically seeking a better way of life outside of their home countries and it is sad that those two different groups of people have such a differential divide.
I found this to be really disturbing and I wanted to share when searching generic photos in a stock website these were my results for when I searched expat versus when I searched immigrant and it just really goes to show the point I’m making with a disturbing visual aid.
This was the first result when searching Immigrant.
This was the first result when searching Expat.
Challenge It!
Many travelers today are challenging the use of the words expat versus immigrant. This post was even inspired by such a conversation here in Guatemala amongst immigrants and expats.
Let us check our privilege and let’s take the use of the word to the original definition and use the words appropriately not considering race but the intent of permanency versus short term and if you are not sure ASK!
I Chug My Wine 
Reminds me of the Japanese. Gaijin is the word for foreigner. When I visit Japan, I’m a gaijin. Makes sense. When a Japanese person visits the US, I’m still the gaijin! He’s never the gaijin – I’m always the gaijin, no mater where we are.
Perhaps we are (or I’ll become) an expat because Americans see us as being unpatriotic or formerly patriotic by moving abroad.
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Thank you the comment and for sharing your experience. I will make a future post as you suggested about daily life in Guatemala. Follow me on Pinterest and Facebook to stay up to date with my Guatemala posts.
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