By Sydney Smith
iMediaEthics
Former Washington Post reporter Jose Antonio Vargas, who identified himself as an “uindocumented immigrant” last year in an essay for The New York Times is calling for The New York Times and the Associated Press to stop referring to people as “illegal immigrants.”
iMediaEthics has written several times about this terminology issue, including when Washington Post public editor at the time Andrew Alexander discussed the terms “illegal immigrant” and “undocumented immigrant” in 2010 and when the Society of Professional Journalists issued a 2011 resolution against using the phrases “illegal immigrant” and “illegal alien.” Linguist Otto Santa Ana told iMediaEthics previously that “illegal” and “undocumented” are partisan terminology. Santa Ana also commented that the word “immigrant” may be misleading because “many of the people are not immigrating…they are migrating.”
Also: Deported immigrants being kidnapped in border towns/Phoenix Business Journal
Dismissal sought in Fast & Furious suit/AP
Legal Representation Pays Off for Landowners Along US-Mexico Border Fence/AP
If you’d like to discuss immigration matters, Brian Bergin, bbergin@roselawgroup.com
