green carder

noun

A Mexican citizen who has a green card to work in the United States, especially one who lives in Mexico and commutes across the border.

Meanings

noungreen carder (plural green carders)

plural green carders · alternative green-carder · alternative greencarder

  1. USA Mexican citizen who has a green card to work in the United States, especially one who lives in Mexico and commutes across the border.

    Manyof the "green carders" returned to their homes south of the border at night.

    2013, Richard Worth, Dolores Huerta
    2 more examples

    The problem of the green carder is not confined to the border area, or to the green-card commuter.

    1969, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and Labor. Special Subcommittee on Labor, Employment of "green Card" Aliens During Labor Disputes

    Rather, it is the green carder who actually lives in Mexico but who commutes on a daily or seasonal basis to the United States who causes inequities to exist.

    1977, Brian S. Rungeling, Vernon M. Briggs jr., John F. Adams, Employment, Income, and Welfare in the Rural South, page 271
  2. USbroadlyA United States citizen of Mexican descent who lives in Mexico and commutes across the border.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

green carder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/green%20carder

MLA

“green carder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/green%20carder. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “green carder,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/green%20carder.

Source: green carder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.