'Illegal Alien' Returns to Federal Documents: The Weight of a Noun
By Thomas Reed , January 30, 2025
Topic: Propaganda
The Plain Fact
An executive order signed January 20, 2025 directs all federal agencies to use the term "illegal alien" in official documents, replacing "undocumented immigrant," "undocumented individual," and "noncitizen." It is worth examining what each word is being asked to do.
WHAT HAPPENED
- Executive order directing federal agencies to use "illegal alien" in all official communications
- The term replaces "undocumented immigrant" (used by the Obama and Biden administrations) and "undocumented individual"
- The Associated Press Stylebook recommends against "illegal alien" and "illegal immigrant," preferring specific descriptions of a person's legal status
- Federal court filings, agency regulations, and interagency communications are all affected
WHAT THEY SAID
The executive order describes this as "restoring accurate legal terminology." The word "restoring" implies returning to a prior correct state after a period of error. The word "accurate" implies that the term describes reality without distortion.
WHAT THE WORDS ACTUALLY MEAN
"Illegal" is an adjective that describes an action, not a person. A person crosses a border illegally. The crossing is illegal. The person is a person who has crossed illegally. The distinction matters because adjectives that describe actions can be attached to the specific action. Adjectives that describe persons define the person's identity. "Illegal alien" does the latter. It converts a legal status (unauthorized presence) into an identity category.
"Alien" is a legal term that appears in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. It means "any person not a citizen or national of the United States." The word is legally precise. It is also, in ordinary usage, a word that means "foreign" or "other" or "not belonging." Legal precision and rhetorical effect are not the same thing, and the executive order is interested in both.
"Undocumented" is a euphemism. It implies that the person merely lacks paperwork, as though the issue were administrative rather than legal. This is dishonest in the opposite direction: it minimizes the legal violation by describing it in the language of bureaucratic oversight.
THE PATTERN
Neither term is neutral. "Illegal alien" emphasizes the violation and the foreignness. "Undocumented immigrant" minimizes the violation and emphasizes the migration. Each term is a policy argument disguised as a description. The choice of term determines the moral frame before the policy debate begins.
WHAT HONEST LANGUAGE WOULD REQUIRE
If federal agencies were required to use language that describes without framing, the term would be: "person present in the United States without legal authorization." This is accurate, specific, and does not convert a legal status into an identity. It is also eleven words long, which makes it unsuitable for headlines, press releases, and executive orders.
POLLERBULL SIGNAL
- What moves odds: Immigration language activates base voters on both sides. "Illegal alien" in federal documents signals enforcement priority to the Republican base and signals threat to the Democratic base. Both reactions increase midterm engagement in the 2–3% range.
- What would falsify this: If the terminology change produces no measurable shift in public opinion polls on immigration policy, the words are less powerful than assumed. Preliminary polling suggests attitudes are driven by events (border crossings, enforcement operations), not terminology.