New York Times (Taking Note)
By Ernesto Londono
October 23, 2015
Congressman
Joaquin Castro of Texas introduced a bill this week that would require
the federal government to do away with the term “alien” in immigration
forms and and
other government records.
If Mr. Castro prevails, all uses of “alien” in federal law would be changed to “foreign national.”
That would be an easy, quick way to phase out a term that many immigrants find offensive.
“America
is a nation of immigrants, yet our federal government continues to use
terms that dehumanize and ostracize those in our society who happen to
have been born elsewhere,”
Mr. Castro said in a statement. “Regardless of status, immigrants to
our nation are first and foremost human beings. Removing the term
‘alien’ from our federal laws shows respect to our shared heritage and
to the hundreds of millions of descendants of immigrants
who call America home.”
Mr.
Castro’s office pointed out that as language has evolved, lawmakers
have passed bills to strip out offensive, anachronistic terms such as
“lunatic” and “mentally retarded”
from federal statutes.
The
bill was introduced on Wednesday, a day after the Times published an
editorial calling on Congress to retire the term. Erin Hatch, a
spokeswoman for Mr. Castro, said
the congressman had been working on the bill for a few months.
As
of Thursday, he had 43 co-sponsors, she said. Since it’s unlikely to be
approved as a standalone bill, Mr. Castro, who represents a largely
Hispanic district in San
Antonio, will seek to slip the change as an amendment in an immigration
bill as soon as possible.
“Words
matter, particularly in the context of an issue as contentious as
immigration,” Mr. Castro’s statement said. “Discontinuing our use of the
term ‘alien’ will help
lessen the prejudice and vitriol that for too long have poisoned our
nation’s discussions around immigration reform.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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