To me, the word "immigrant" is not as offensive as the word "foreigner".
Immigrant just means:a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.
But foreigner means: 1. a person not native to or naturalized in the country or jurisdiction under consideration; alien. or 2. a person from outside one's community.
Now that sounds more alienating to me.
Then again, I guess it depends where you come from. Commonly for many Filipinos, immigrant can have a negative connotation or meaning since most of the time, other nationalities think most Filipinos are poor and migrate for financial reasons(to escape ugly circumstances in their own country) - which can be quite embarrassing at times(no matter how true). Because it not only becomes a ground for prejudice against us. But most of all, it can be grounds for discrimination and/or abuse...
