Politics

California is removing the word ‘alien’ from its state laws, will be replaced with ‘noncitizen’ or ‘immigrant’

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California will strike the word “alien” from its state laws, getting rid of what Gov. Gavin Newsom called “an offensive term for a human being” that has “fueled a divisive and hurtful narrative.”

Newsom on Friday signed a law that removes the word from various sections of the California state code. California passed laws in 2015 and 2016 that removed the word from the state’s labor and education code. But the law Newsom signed on Friday finishes the job by removing the word from all state laws. The word will be replaced with terms like “noncitizen” or “immigrant.”

“By changing this term, we are ensuring California’s laws reflect our state’s values,” Newsom said. The federal government has used the term “alien” to describe people in the U.S. who are not citizens since at least 1798 with the passage of the “Aliens and Sedition Acts.”

But Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, a Democrat from Arleta, said the word “has become weaponized and has been used in place of explicitly racial slurs to dehumanize immigrants.” Rivas added, “The words we say and the language we adopt in our laws matter — this racist term ‘alien’ must be removed from California statute immediately.”

Governments, libraries and news agencies have been updating its immigration language in recent years. The Associated Press updated its widely used stylebook in 2013 to advise against using the phrase “illegal alien” or “illegal immigrant”, while Harvard Library announced in March it was removing the phrase “illegal alien” from its cataloguing language. In April, President Joe Biden ordered federal immigration agencies to stop referring to migrants as “aliens.”

ARTICLE: PAUL MURDOCH

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: AXIOS

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Paul Murdoch

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

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