plural migrants
: someone or something that migrates: such as
a
: a person who moves regularly in order to find work especially in harvesting crops
farms employing migrants during the growing season
b
: immigrant sense a
especially
: refugee
… administration officials announced they would work to swiftly screen migrants seeking asylum at the border … and penalize people who cross illegally into the U.S. or illegally through another country on their way to the U.S. border. —
Colleen Long
Colleen Long
c
: an animal (such as a gray whale, monarch butterfly, leatherback sea turtle, or Canada goose) that moves usually long distances from one habitat or geographic region to another
migrant
adjective
migrant labor
migrant birds
Examples of migrant in a Sentence
migrants in search of work on farms
Not all birds are migrants.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Pima County attorney said ICE would increase activity across the county after the arrest of three Venezuelan migrants seeking asylum.
—Laura Daniella Sepulveda, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Immigrant families detained by ICE, sometimes for months, were quietly driven to a nonprofit migrant shelter an hour away in recent days and set free.
—Rick Jervis, USA Today, 29 Jan. 2026
Federal officials have said new centers will maximize efficiency and shorten detention times by creating a centralized system to process and stage migrants for deportation.
—Aarón Torres, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
Sandweg also said the Border Patrol has no business operating in a city like Minneapolis because their training is geared more toward encountering drug cartels and migrants along the border.
—Anna Schecter, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for migrant
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Laura Daniella Sepulveda, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Immigrant families detained by ICE, sometimes for months, were quietly driven to a nonprofit migrant shelter an hour away in recent days and set free.
—Rick Jervis, USA Today, 29 Jan. 2026
Federal officials have said new centers will maximize efficiency and shorten detention times by creating a centralized system to process and stage migrants for deportation.
—Aarón Torres, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
Sandweg also said the Border Patrol has no business operating in a city like Minneapolis because their training is geared more toward encountering drug cartels and migrants along the border.
—Anna Schecter, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for migrant
Cite this Entry
“Migrant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/migrant. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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