Speaker. the language in the committee report that has sparked this debate refers to a portion of U.S. Code that contains the term "alien." I have introduced legislation that would remove "alien" from U.S. Code in instances where it refers to immigrants to this Nation. My bill. which is H.R. 3785. the CHANGE Act. would replace the terms "alien" and "illegal alien" in Federal law with the terms "foreign national" and "undocumented foreign national." Let me be clear about why I am doing that. First. these folks may not be American citizens. but they are human beings. They are not people from outer space. When we think of the term "alien." we dont think of human beings. we think of people that are from somewhere else. The word "illegal alien" has also been used oftentimesalthough not by everyonein a pejorative way. in a way that is meant to be pejorative and offensive. It stigmatizes immigrants in this Nation and diminishes the quality of discussion around immigration issues in the United States. When ugly. belittling names are used to describe groups of people. those terms can make discrimination seem okay. There is precedent for changing language in our laws as words meanings evolve over time.
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illegal alien undocumented immigration immigrants