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or a single Romanian expat who “made it” in Silicon Valley (I think this would be also illegal though)

you're an expat only if you are an English native speaker, else you are an immigrant. Hence, no such thing as Romanian expat.

Is this a jab at (supposed) American racism/xenophobia? Because by definition I'm pretty sure being a native speaker is not a requirement for being an expat

>An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their country of citizenship

"Expat" is mostly an English (British) thing, much less US. I'd have called it by name, e.g. US exceptionalism/centrism, if that was the case. ("Expat" use rose during the British empire)

In the hypothetical case of a Romanian working in the US, "immigrant" would be a correct term (unless they obtain the green card and become a citizen)

Expat and immigrant are effectively the same thing under most jurisdictions... yet expat carries less stigma and people would prefer to call themselves that way.

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