The Associated Press will no longer use the term “illegal immigrant”, and will drop it from its stylebook—the commonly used guide for media writers. According to The Washington Post, the move is seen as a victory for immigration rights advocates who say the term unfairly discriminates against the people it describes.
AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll wrote on a recent blog post:
The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term ‘illegal immigrant’ or the use of ‘illegal’ to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that ‘illegal’ should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.
