‘Undocumented Immigrant’ Is a Made-Up Term That Ignores the Law

Photo: Jeff Malet Photography/Newscom

The news media is reporting that an internal email at the Justice Department has reminded its lawyers that the legally correct term they should be using in their briefs is “illegal alien,” not the euphemism “undocumented immigrant.”

The Justice Department leadership is correct. Illegal alien is the correct legal term that should be used.

“Undocumented immigrant” is a politically correct, made-up term adopted by pro-illegal alien advocacy groups and liberal media outlets to obscure the fact that such aliens have violated U.S. immigration law and are in the country illegally.

Precision in the law is a vital principle, since the exact words used in statutes, regulations, contracts, guidance documents, and policy statements can significantly affect how they are applied and interpreted.

If we are going to discuss and debate the issue of immigration and what our public policy should be, we should at least use accurate, precise terms, and talk about, for example, legal aliens vs. illegal aliens.

Government lawyers in particular have an obligation to use the correct language of the federal statutes they are sworn to uphold and enforce.

Read the rest from Hans von Spakovsky HERE.

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