“Alien” or “Noncitizen”: Appeals Court Judges Disagree on Proper Term in Cancellation of Removal Case

“Alien” terminology recently has been an issue in recent Supreme Court immigration opinions as well as in immigration policies of the U.S. government.

Jennifer Doherty in a story for Law360  highlights a dispute by U.S. court of appeals judges over use of the word “alien” in an immigration decision released yesterday.  Here is the disposition in Martinez Romeo v. Attorney General.

U.S. Circuit Judge Elizabeth L. Branch,  a Trump appointee, wrote for the Eleventh Circuit, denying the appeal of a Honduran national’s cancellation of removal claim.

U.S. Circuit Judge Beverly B. Martin, elevated from the district court to the 11th Circuit by President Obama, concurred in the disposition but questioned Judge Branch’s use of the term “alien” instead of “noncitizen”:

“I write separately to note why I prefer not to use the term ‘alien,’ which the panel opinion uses ten times,” Judge Martin said. “‘Alien’ is increasingly recognized as an ‘archaic and dehumanizing’ term.”  “I see no need to use a term that ‘has become pejorative’ where a non-pejorative term works perfectly well,” Judge Martin added.

Judge Branch wrote a separate concurrence to emphasize that the use of “alien” was not the term used in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The terminological debate will no doubt continue.  I first analyzed this issue in an article (“`Aliens’ and the U.S. Immigration Laws:  The Social and Legal Construction of Nonpersons”) published in 1997.

KJ