Should ‘Illegal Immigrant’ Label Be Dropped?

A phrase that has seen common usage in the news over the last few years might become a rare occurrence in future news copy.

As reported on Jim Romenesko’s blog on Tuesday, the Associated Press is no longer sanctioning the term “illegal immigrant.” Amid its changes to its stylebook, which prescribes proper usage of words and phrases in news copy, the news organization also stated that “illegal” should not be used in describing a person:

The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term “illegal immigrant” or the use of “illegal” to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that “illegal” should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally. … [W]e had in other areas been ridding the Stylebook of labels. The new section on mental health issues argues for using credibly sourced diagnoses instead of labels. Saying someone was “diagnosed with schizophrenia” instead of schizophrenic, for example.

And that discussion about labeling people, instead of behavior, led us back to “illegal immigrant” again.

Another news organization, The New York Times, could be amending its usage of the term. Following the AP’s announcement, Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan wrote that the newspaper is considering revisions to its policies regarding the usage of the term, though Sullivan said the Times would likely continue to use the term, but may give its writers and editors alternatives to the phrase.  

Should other news organizations follow suit and end their usage of the term “illegal immigrant” in news copy?

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