The words “immigrant” and “emigrant” are very often confused in practice, which is perhaps not surprising at all, since they are the same people, only depending on the side of the border from which they are considered. It’s easier, of course, to call everyone “migrants”, then there will definitely be no mistake. But still, "immigrant" and "emigrant" - there is a difference between them. Which one, we will consider later in the article.
The term "migration", originally used in ornithology, later began to refer to the movement of people, leading to a change in the latter's place of residence. Migrants are those who, for certain reasons, leave their usual place of residence and leave for a new one, or simply are in endless journeys.
This word comes from the Latin migrare. The words "immigration" and "emigration" are formed from it in a prefixed way. In the first case, the prefix im is translated as "in, inside", in the second case, the prefix ex - "out, outside".
An emigrant is a person (or even a whole family) who has made an independent decision to move. It is very important to note that emigrants are not people forcibly evicted from the country or deported.
Types of population migration/reasons for migration: Video
Reasons for emigrating
There can be many of them:
- military operations in the territory where the person lived before leaving the country;
- hunger;
- poverty;
- ethnic conflicts;
- political repression;
- interfaith conflicts;
- environmental and natural disasters;
- discrimination (religious, social, national, etc.);
- family reunification;
- the impossibility of obtaining education, profession, employment;
- difficulties in the implementation of professional, creative, economic and other plans in their native country.
The difference between the concepts of “migrant” and “emigrant” lies in the fact that the first are people who move from one place to another within the country, between its regions, or, using the example of the Russian Federation, federal districts. Emigration also provides for leaving the country, that is, crossing the border of the state. 
Emigrants are not people who make short-term trips for business and personal purposes, including tourists, although such moves are accompanied by a change in their place of residence.
Re-emigration is the process of returning an emigrant to the original place of residence, that is, in fact, return migration.
Repatriation, unlike re-emigration, is a return to one's homeland, although not necessarily to one's own, perhaps, for example, to the native country of one's ancestors. 
Emigrant or immigrant?
The words “emigrant” and “immigrant” are antonyms in their content, and if the first are people leaving the country, then the second are those who come to the country for the purpose of permanent residence.
For example, a Russian man makes a decision about. He has the right to call himself an emigrant, just as his Russian compatriots may consider him as such. However, in relation to his new American acquaintances, he is an immigrant from the Russian Federation. That is, he used to live somewhere in another state, and now he lives here. When moving, the man was an emigrant, but after arriving at the end point of further permanent residence, he became a Russian immigrant.
Immigration is the entry of the population of one state into another for long-term residence. 
Immigration processes played a significant role at the stage of settling the Earth, significantly influenced the formation of the structure and dynamics of the population of many countries. The mixing of different ethnic groups in the population as a result of migration processes leads to the emergence of new peoples and nations.
In general, the distinction can be reduced to "immigrate from" and "emigrate to". Based on this, it is possible to determine who the citizen in question is. However, as practice shows, confusion is very rarely avoided, since each moving person at a certain stage can be both.
