As the immigration reform debate rages on in Washington, the Associated Press, one of the largest news organizations in the world, has decided to stop using the word "illegal" when it comes to describing undocumented immigrants.
In a blog entry written by Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Tuesday afternoon, the Associated Press explained that the changes were now purging its style book of the term "illegal immigrant" or the use of "illegal" to describe a person.
Instead, the Stylebook will only use "illegal" to reform to an action--in this case, living in a country illegally.
The change, Carroll explained, came after speaking with people around the country on the subject "from many walks of life."
"Earlier, they led us to reject descriptions such as "undocumented," despite ardent support from some quarters, because it is not precise. A person may have plenty of documents, just not the ones required for legal residence.," Carroll wrote.
"Is this the best way to describe someone in a country without permission? We believe that it is for now. We also believe more evolution is likely down the road. Will the new guidance make it harder for writers? Perhaps just a bit at first. But while labels may be more facile, they are not accurate," Carroll added.
Latino and immigrant rights groups have long condemned the use of the word "illegal" when discussing immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as dehumanizing.
However, whether or not other news outlets follow suit with the erasing of the term "illegal immigrant" will be a topic to watch. Several major news organizations have already pledged to avoid the term, but influential newspapers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times have continued to use it, the Huffington Post noted.
However, Times public editor Margaret Sullivan tweeted Tuesday following the AP announcement that there could be some changes to that.
"On "illegal immigrants": I'm told that @nytimes is also working on revisions to its usage guidelines to "provide more nuance and options," Sullivan tweeted.
Despite the changes in the way news outlets report on immigrants illegally living in the U.S., Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano won't be making any such changes, having told reporters last week that she didn't "really get caught up in the vocabulary wars."
"They are immigrants who are here illegally, that's an illegal immigrant," she said, according to the Washington Post.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., defended the term "illegal immigrant" last month during a town hall meeting in Arizona, when a person criticized his use of the term.
"Someone who crosses our borders illegally is here illegally," McCain said, as reported by the Arizona Republic. "You can call it whatever you want to, but it's illegal. I think there's a big difference between someone who does something that's illegal and someone who's undocumented. I'll continue to call it illegal."
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