AP: “Illegal” Is No Longer Sanctioned to Describe a Person

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

Little by little, positive change is coming.

This time it was the venerable Associated Press that announced that it is dropping the “I” word from it’s Stylebook – the bible of all things journalistic.

The announcement was simple and to the point, as you’d expect it to be  from the AP:

The AP Stylebook today is making some changes in how we describe people living in a country illegally.

Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explains the thinking behind the decision:

The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term “illegal immigrant” or the use of “illegal” to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that “illegal” should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.

The reason? The AP says it’s moving away from labeling people and moving toward labeling behaviors. So a person is no longer schizophrenic, they are instead “diagnosed with schizophrenia.” And a person is no longer and “illegal immigrant.” Good for that!

Here’s the AP official entry:

illegal immigration Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.

Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegalsor undocumented.

Do not describe people as violating immigration laws without attribution.

Specify wherever possible how someone entered the country illegally and from where. Crossed the border? Overstayed a visa? What nationality?

People who were brought into the country as children should not be described as having immigrated illegally. For people granted a temporary right to remain in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, use temporary resident status, with details on the program lower in the story.

Next? The New York Times?