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The AP drops 'illegal immigrant'

The Associated Press on Tuesday announced it will no longer use the term “illegal immigrant” or “illegal” to describe a person -- but did not say which term, if any, should take its place.

The AP Stylebook has been updated to state that it no longer sanctions the use of “illegal” or “illegal immigrant" for a person, senior vice president and executive editor Kathleen Carroll wrote in a blog post. The Stylebook now directs that “illegal” should only be used to describe an action, “such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally,” Carroll noted.

The AP aims to label “behavior” instead of “people,” Carroll wrote, pointing out that “the new section on mental health issues argues for using credibly sourced diagnoses instead of labels. Saying someone was ‘diagnosed with schizophrenia’ instead of schizophrenic, for example.” The AP, she said, is working on “ridding the Stylebook of labels.”

“And that discussion about labeling people, instead of behavior, led us back to ‘illegal immigrant’ again,” she said. “We concluded that to be consistent, we needed to change our guidance. So we have.”

Carroll added that the AP will continue to examine the best way to describe “someone in a country without permission.” The AP has decided that using “illegal” only to refer to an action, not a person, is the best way to go “for now.”

“We also believe more evolution is likely down the road,” she added.

The new AP Stylebook entry for “illegal immigration” states:

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, illegals or 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.

UPDATE (3:24 p.m.): Margaret Sullivan, the New York Times public editor, tweets:

On "illegal immigrants": I'm told that @nytimes is also working on revisions to its usage guidelines to "provide more nuance and options." — Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) April 2, 2013