{"id":15756,"date":"2013-06-17T14:17:45","date_gmt":"2013-06-17T19:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/illegal-undocumented-unauthorized-news-media-shift-language-on-immigration\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:31:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:31:07","slug":"illegal-undocumented-unauthorized-news-media-shift-language-on-immigration","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/06\/17\/illegal-undocumented-unauthorized-news-media-shift-language-on-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2019Illegal,\u2019 \u2019undocumented,\u2019 \u2019unauthorized\u2019: News media shift language on immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/06\/FT_13.06.14_PJ_newsTerms.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"640\"><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/24\/business\/media\/the-times-shifts-on-illegal-immigrant-but-doesnt-ban-the-use.html?pagewanted=all\">several major news organizations<\/a> deciding to reduce or ban its use, the term \u201cillegal immigrant\u201d is still the phrase newspapers most often use to describe foreigners living in the United States without proper documentation. But over time, there have been some shifts in the language applied to those at the heart of the immigration debate, as words like \u201cundocumented\u201d or \u201cunauthorized\u201d have begun showing up more frequently.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Congress now considering a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/a-look-at-details-of-the-senate-bipartisan-immigration-bill\/2013\/06\/12\/c00efc22-d332-11e2-b3a2-3bf5eb37b9d0_story.html\">major immigration bill,<\/a> we compared newspaper language in the period from April 15-29 in 2013 with three other two-week periods\u2014in 1996, 2002 and 2007\u2014when immigration-related legislation was also in the news.<!--more--><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During all four time periods, the term used most frequently in newspapers was \u201cillegal immigrant,\u201d although there was some ebb and flow, according to Pew Research\u2019s LexisNexis search of 19 related terms in almost 9,000 articles. This year, we found the phrase \u201cillegal immigrant\u201d accounted for 49% of the terms examined. It accounted for 30% of the terms in 2007, around the time Congress tried and failed to pass immigration reform. And it represented 62% of terms in 2002 when Congress passed legislation ordering Immigration and Naturalization Service to link their databases together.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year, several news organizations announced a ban on the term \u201cillegal immigrant,\u201d including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/local\/readers-rep\/la-me-rr-la-times-guidelines-immigration-20130501,0,5876110.story\">The Los Angeles Times<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/newsfeed.time.com\/2013\/04\/03\/ap-bans-illegal-immigrant-the-tricky-language-of-immigration-reform\/\">The Associated Press<\/a>, because they said it lacked precision and broadly labeled a large group. In fact, one former journalist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/mediashift\/2013\/05\/jose-antonio-vargas-on-using-social-media-to-change-narratives-culture-and-policy\">has been campaigning<\/a> to change the way Americans and newsrooms talk about immigration, specifically urging them to rethink the use of \u201cillegal immigrant.\u201d Generally speaking, the trend is toward a diminishing use of the word \u201cillegal\u201d to describe the people here without proper documentation.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The use of \u201cillegal alien,\u201d a term considered insensitive by many, reached its low point in 2013, dropping to 5% of terms used. It had consistently been in double digits in the other periods studied, peaking at 21% in 2007.<\/li>\n<li>In general, the newspapers studied have reduced the use of the word \u201cillegal\u201d over time. In 1996, four terms that included \u201cillegal\u201d\u2014 \u201cillegal alien,\u201d \u201cillegal immigrant,\u201d \u201cillegal worker\u201d and \u201cillegal migrant\u201d\u2014accounted for 82% of the language. In 2002, that dropped to about three-quarters. In 2007 it was down to 60% and in 2013, the decline continued as those terms were used a combined 57% of the time.<\/li>\n<li>Newspapers\u2019 use of \u201cundocumented immigrant\u201d steadily grew from 6% in 1996 to 14% in 2013. The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press recently announced their decisions to stop using that term as well, stating that it also lacked precision.<\/li>\n<li>Two other terms that appeared in 2013, albeit at modest levels, are relatively new. The phrase \u201cunauthorized immigrant\u201d was rarely seen prior to 2013, when it made up 3% of the terms used. And \u201cundocumented people\u201d or \u201cundocumented person\u201d grew to 3% in 2013 after being at 1% in 2007.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even with several major news organizations deciding to reduce or ban its use, the term \u201cillegal immigrant\u201d is still the phrase newspapers most often use to describe foreigners living in the United States without proper documentation. But over time, there have been some shifts in the language applied to those at the heart of the 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