The Biden administration is nixing “offensive” and supposedly "racist" words like “illegal alien” from its executive vernacular in an attempt to seem more “inclusive” – even, apparently, of people who’re more than happy to break our laws.
To that end, Biden has instructed federal agencies to use the less controversial “noncitizen” or “undocumented noncitizen” instead of “alien” or “illegal alien.” He’s also ordered them to say “integration” instead of “assimilation” when referring to incorporating immigrants into the greater U.S. society.
It's notable that while the administration might think "non-citizen" is a perfectly acceptable replacement for the term "illegal alien," it's actually quite insulting to the thousands of legal permanent residents, students, guest workers and visa-holders who, despite also not being U.S. citizens, went through the legal process and have a lawful right to be in the United States.
And despite the administration’s push for more “inclusive” language, “illegal alien” remains a legal term commonly used throughout federal legislation and policy passed by both Republicans and Democrats throughout the years.
USCIS spokesperson Joe Sowers told Forbes that the administration’s guidance doesn’t actually apply to “legal, policy or other operational documents,” saying that the language dictated in the Immigration and Nationality Act – which includes the term “alien” to describe foreign-born persons who aren’t citizens or permanent residents – would be “most appropriate.”