Biden administration orders Homeland Security to cancel the term “alien”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been ordered by the Biden administration to navigate away from the terms “alien” and “illegal alien” within their communications.

BuzzFeed News reports information obtained from a memo, in which the Department of Homeland Security have been advised to shift to terms such as “noncitizen,” “undocumented noncitizen” or “undocumented individual.” Furthermore, they have been asked to use the term “integration” instead of “assimilation.”

The term “noncitizen” was presented earlier this year by the Department of Homeland Security’s David Pekoske. He used it when referring to illegal immigrants who could be pursued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is another government organization that will be shifting away from these terms. The organization used the previous terms on a frequent basis during Donald Trump’s time in office.

“The term ‘alien’ is used as a dehumanizing slur, and should be removed from the language in our statutes,” explained Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro in a statement to NBC News. “This change might seem symbolic, but it’s an important step to restore humanity after years of demonization.”

This Friday will mark a full month of the Biden administration in power.

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