President Biden has said he’s sorry for using the term “illegal” in his State of the Union last week. The term is one historically rejected by Biden’s own administration, and much more broadly among those who realize how the United States depends on immigration for its survival.
In 2020, New York City Council voted to ban the terms “alien” and “illegal immigrant” in local laws and documents. The more favorable word replacing them: “noncitizen.”
The coverage over Biden’s gaffe has been largely rooted in the dehumanizing, offensive nature of the word “illegal.” But it’s also equally important to focus on its inaccuracy, especially now.
It is perfectly legal to enter the United States to seek asylum. News coverage of the migrant “crisis” cannot say this enough times. In a piece for Epicenter in 2022, journalist Felipe De La Hoz offers the perfect script to counter Biden’s language and the many others who think there’s a “right way” to come here versus an “illegal” way. He writes:
“What we have to understand is that the spectrum of ‘right ways’ to enter the United States, particularly with a humanitarian claim, have very quickly narrowed over the last few years. It’s been three-and-a-half decades since the last time Congress passed and a president signed anything resembling an amnesty for unlawful presence, and in the interim the laws have just gotten tighter. A pair of laws signed by former President Bill Clinton in 1996 made it much easier to deny immigration benefits and deport people, and a series of Trump administration policies — including the Remain in Mexico program, so-called safe third country agreements, slashing the refugee program, and the Title 42 expulsion policy — severely restricted avenues to reach the U.S. and petition for protections.
The folks who have reached New York have weathered quite the menu of adversity, including often crossing through the dangerous Darién Gap in Panama; heading north while often being targeted by gangs and criminal groups; reaching the southern border and managing to avoid being expelled; all to make it in and be deceived by someone in a position of power, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who took to loading migrants onto New York-bound buses with false promises of assistance. They really have been through a lot, and they did it all pursuing something that, we’ll remind you, is perfectly legal: the right to seek asylum.”
Again: It is perfectly legal to enter the United States to flee persecution and in search of safety. Indeed, the right to do so guided the framers of the U.S. Constitution, white men who knew all too well about the escape from tyrannical rule themselves.
hmmm, glancing at this article, can only say that banning the words alien, illegal, and replacing them with Non-Citizen is loaded.
A citizen is someone in a City. In italian, a Citizen contributes to the Life Blood of a City, just as all immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in our city work and add to the cultural tapestry of our city. Shame on you & NYC rules. We have got to do better with Vocabulary & Meaning! Thank you
Very good reporting Mitra and congrats on all the good work Epicenter is doing! I met you @espresso77 for ArtTalks a few years ago! Glancing at this article, can only say I agree that the words alien and illegal are detrimental. However, as a term, Non-Citizen is loaded.
A citizen is someone in a City. In Spanish, A Citizen is a Ciudana/Ciudana, a city dweller, from the word ciudad; in Italian parlance, a Cittadina/Cittadino, still a city person from the city, la citta! A Citizen contributes to the Life Blood of a City, just as all immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in our beloved Queens, work and add to the cultural tapestry of our city. Language fails us. We have got to do better with Vocabulary & Meaning. Acquiring Citizenship of course is an ongoing struggle, whether one is new yo Queens or a migrant in Latin America, the Middle East, the Far East, Europe….
Thank you,