Is the word “alien” objectionable? Federal appeals judge says no way

Judge James C. Ho Photo from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Because of the dehumanizing impacts of the term “alien” in discussing immigration, there has been a move away from the term and using alternatives, such as “noncitizen.”

Debra Casses Weiss for the ABA Journal writes that the conservative U.S. circuit judge who announced plans to boycott Yale Law students for clerkships is taking aim at those using “noncitizen” instead of “alien.”

Judge James C. Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit made his point in a May 30 concurrence noted by Bloomberg Law and Above the Law.

“I see no need to bowdlerize statutes or judicial decisions that use the word ‘alien’ by substituting terms like ‘noncitizen,’” he wrote.

“The word ‘alien’ is ubiquitous in statutes, regulations, judicial decisions and scholarly commentary on federal immigration law,” Ho wrote. “But despite this established usage, some members of the judiciary have recently begun to signal their opposition to using that term, on the ground that it is ‘offensive.’ … Respectfully, I do not share in that sentiment.”

The opinion for the panel did not mention Judge Ho’s terminological criticism.

KJ