President Biden is instructing officials to use “more inclusive” language when talking about immigration.
Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Tracy Renaud signed a memo sent in an email Tuesday informing officials to use “more inclusive language in the agency’s outreach efforts, internal documents and in overall communication with stakeholders, partners and the general public.”
The USCIS email was obtained by Axios. The memo states words that are to be changed when talking about immigration.
The word “alien” is replaced with “noncitizen,” “illegal alien” is replaced with “undocumented noncitizen” or “undocumented individual,” and “assimilation” is replaced with “integration or civic integration.”
When reached for comment, USCIS spokesperson Joe Sowers said the memo was signed so that the agency “aligns our language practices with the administration’s guidance on the federal government’s use of immigration terminology.”
Critics of the term “illegal alien” argue it creates a stigma, while others say it simply describes someone who enters the country illegally.
“The guidance does not affect legal, policy or other operational documents, including forms, where using terms (such as applicant, petitioner, etc.) as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act would be the most appropriate,” Sowers said in a statement to The Hill.
Updated at 2:51 p.m.