What makes someone a “refugee” is actually a legal question that determines a country’s obligations toward them. “Refugees are defined in international law as those who are outside of their own countries and unwilling or unable to return because they have a well-founded fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,” Susan Martin, the director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, explained in an email.

Unlike immigrants, who are generally motivated by opportunities to work, study, or be with family, refugees are pushed to leave. But there often isn’t a clear dividing line between “forced” and “voluntary” migration; people’s motives are often mixed. To complicate things further, people fleeing violence or war don’t automatically qualify as refugees under U.S. and international law. Many of the people leaving Central America for the U.S. face violence, war, and crime—but not necessarily direct, particularized threats.

“Bombs fall or women are raped not because of who they are, but rather where they happen to be,” Martin said. Just because 69 percent of Americans view Central American children as “refugees” doesn’t mean they fit the technical definition of the word.