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Castro Introduces Legislation to Change the Term Alien in Federal Law

Statement

Date: Oct. 21, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Legal Immigration

Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) introduced legislation to remove offensive and inflammatory language characterizing immigrants as "aliens" from federal law. The Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government Expression (CHANGE) Act changes this terminology in U.S. code and federal agencies' materials and documentation.

"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," said Rep. Castro. "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."


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