Library of Congress to Stop Using ‘Illegal’ and ‘Alien’ to Describe Immigrants, Group Says

The Library of Congress will no longer use the words “illegal” and “alien” to describe undocumented immigrants after Dartmouth College students petitioned for the change, the group said Wednesday.

Instead, the Library of Congress will use the terms “non-citizen” and “unauthorized immigrants” in subject headings to refer to undocumented immigrants.

Students, faculty and librarians with the Dartmouth Coalition for Immigration Reform, Equality and DREAMers, or CoFIRED, petitioned for the change for two years, according to a press release by the group. {snip}

“We call on both politicians and media outlets to follow the precedent set by the Library of Congress,” Dennise Hernandez, co-director of CoFIRED, said in the release. {snip}

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