“Illegal immigrants” no longer used

I suppose it tips my politics, but I was impressed with legacy medium Associated Press’s decision to ban use of the term “illegal immigrant” in the latest update to its AP Stylebook. As the new entry in the Stylebook instructs AP writers, “use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.” The AP explains its decision because it is trying to “rid the Stylebook of labels,” which the AP’s SVP and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll termed “a lazy device that those of us who type for living can become overly reliant on as a shortcut … that ends up pigeonholing people …” Apparently, the New York Times is also working on similar revisions. The entire article is here.

 

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