Conservative Judge Offers Defense of ‘Alien’ in Immigration Case

Fifth Circuit Judge James C. Ho said the term “alien” shouldn’t be seen as offensive, in a concurrence to an immigration opinion. In recent years, some Supreme Court justices have used “noncitizen” as a substitute for “alien” to describe “a person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.” The Biden administration has pushed executive agencies, including the Justice Department, not to use “the terms ‘alien’ or ‘illegal alien’ to describe migrants” outside a previously issued statute or legal document, in a move to “develop welcoming strategies that promote integration, inclusion, and citizenship.” In an immigration concurrence Tuesday, Ho used his own immigration history to disapprove of the majority’s use of “noncitizen” where the 2018 Fifth Circuit opinion cited used the term “alien.” “There’s no need to be offended by the word ‘alien.’” Ho wrote. “It’s a centuries-old legal term found in countless judicial decisions.” Ho has been an outspoken conservative on and off the bench, including suggesting that his colleagues are applying a “woke Constitution” and saying he wouldn’t hire any clerks from Yale Law School because of the school’s embrace of “cancel culture.” He later added Stanford to his boycott. “In the context of immigration law, we use ‘alien,’ not to disparage one’s character—or to denote one’s planetary origin—but to describe one’s legal status,” he continued. The concurrence came as the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected an appeal from a Cambodian immigrant who argued that a Pennsylvania robbery statute was too broad to match the federal version that would trigger deportation. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.