President Biden’s administration on Monday ordered departments to change the terms used to describe immigration issues, including how to refer to those entering the country illegally, Fox News confirmed.
The administration order comes in the form of memoranda sent to the leaders of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which were first reported by the Washington Post.
The Post reports that the departments will now have to avoid the terms “illegal alien”, “alien” and “assimilation”. Instead, they are asked to use the terms “non-citizen or migrant”, “undocumented” and “integration”.
US President Joe Biden will meet on April 15, 2021, with members of the Executive Committee of the Congress-Asian Pacific American Caucasus at the Oval Office in the White House. Biden on Monday made changes to how federal agencies refer to immigration matters. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool / Getty Images)
COMMANDMENTS DESCRIBES BORDER CURRENT AS A ‘CRISIS’ WHICH HE REFUSES TO FLIGHT ‘
Biden hinted on his first day in office that such changes could be on the way.
“My government’s policy is to protect national and border security, address the humanitarian challenges on the southern border and ensure public health and safety,” Biden said in an executive order.
“We must also adhere to the proper legal process because we protect the dignity and well-being of all families and communities. My administration will restore the policies and practices for the application of civil immigration laws to align their application with these values and priorities,” he continued. .
A source with knowledge of the new policy told Fox News that senior leadership at the Department of Homeland Security had been insisting for weeks before Biden changed.
People surround a car as they arrive for food donations at a temporary camp for migrants seeking asylum in the United States, at the border crossing on Friday, March 12, 2021 in Tijuana, Mexico. The Biden administration hopes to ease the tensions of thousands of unaccompanied children to the southern border by ending a 2018-era Trump order that discourages potential family sponsors from coming forward to house the children. (AP Photo / Gregory Bull)
In particular, federal law refers to a “foreigner” as “any person who is not a citizen or citizen of the United States.” Federal law also often refers to the term “illegal aliens.”
Biden’s move Monday comes as a huge increase in migrants, many of whom want to claim refugee status, has overwhelmed government facilities on the southern border. Biden referred to the situation as a crisis over the weekend.
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‘We are going to increase the number [of refugees], “he told reporters.” The problem was that the refugee section was dealing with the crisis that ended up on the border with young people. We could not do two things at once. But now we are going to increase the number. ‘
Biden made the remark in response to setbacks over a decision not to increase the limit on the number of refugees the U.S. will take this fiscal year from the number previously determined by the Trump administration. Bidding changes course fast
The Biden government has so far refused to call the dramatic increase in the number of migrants, which saw 172,000 migrant encounters in March alone, a ‘crisis’. Instead, it referred to it as a ‘challenge’ and blamed the breakdown of the Trump administration’s of asylum seekers.
Fox News’ Rich Edson, Adam Shaw and Mark Meredith contributed to this report.