Trump agency says employees are free to say ‘illegal’ and ‘alien’ again

The Acting Head of the Department of Homeland Security, Benjamine C. Huffman, has reinstated the term “illegal alien” as official terminology, reversing the previous administration’s euphemisms like “undocumented noncitizen” and “integration.” A government directive states that federal agencies must use legal terms such as “illegal alien” instead of politically charged language adopted by the previous administration.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection memo confirms that prior guidance on terminology has been revoked, indicating that “illegal alien” is back in and terms like “undocumented” are out. California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously signed legislation banning the use of the term “alien” to describe noncitizens in state code, emphasizing its offensive nature.