Saturday, December 4, 2021

Democrats’ War On Language Is Engulfing Term ‘Illegal Alien’

The Federalist

The left is engaged in a language war. That's because changing language changes people's minds.

"The Associated Press ran an emotional plug for efforts to nix the term “alien” to describe an illegal entrant to the United States last week. It’s no secret what the opinion of the AP is, after the corporate outlet updated its stylebook in 2013 to remove not just “illegal alien” but even “illegal immigrant.”

"But journalists and lawmakers alike would be prudent to brush up on their history. After all, “alien” is a reasonable and just term deeply baked into the founding of this country — contrary to the talking points of demagogues from Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Biden administration.

Under a Biden order last April, U.S. immigration enforcement agencies were instructed to no longer use “alien” or “illegal alien” or “assimilation” in reference to immigrants. Alien was adjusted to “noncitizen or migrant,” illegal to “undocumented,” and assimilation to “integration.”. . .

“Proponents [of changing terms] want to persuade the American public that those here illegally are no different than those who followed the rules to come here lawfully,” Ries also said. “But America, like every other country, has a sovereign right to a lawful and orderly immigration system. And Americans, including lawful immigrants, want immigration laws enforced.”

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