BY EMMA HALL | OB WEB EDITOR
The AP Stylebook is the definitive style guide for journalists. Today AP editors nixed the term “illegal immigrant” and no longer allow the use of “illegal” as a description for a person.
BY EMMA HALL | OB WEB EDITOR
The AP Stylebook is the definitive style guide for journalists. Today AP editors nixed the term “illegal immigrant” and no longer allow the use of “illegal” as a description for a person.
Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegals or undocumented.
Do not describe people as violating immigration laws without attribution.
Specify wherever possible how someone entered the country illegally and from where. Crossed the border? Overstayed a visa? What nationality?
The change is timely as Oregon grapples with its tuition equity bill—Gov. Kitzhaber today signed House Bill 2787, a bill allowing graduates of Oregon high schools to pay resident tuition at the state’s public universities, despite when or how they came to the state.
“Illegal” can be a loaded term when used to describe a person. What do you think of the AP’s change?
Web Editor Emma Hall writes about the fast-changing world of journalism, startups and the intersection of Generation Y and the economy.
