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Fact check: Which is the official federal designation for those that enter country illegally, "illegal alien" or "undocumented immigrant"
Executive Summary
The federal government has no single immutable label; terminology for noncitizens who enter or remain without authorization has shifted with administrations and agencies, and both "illegal alien" and "undocumented immigrant/noncitizen" have official and de facto uses in recent federal practice. Agency directives and style guidance show a partisan and institutional split: some agencies and memos restored or continued "illegal alien" usage in 2025, while earlier and alternative guidance preferred person-first terms like "undocumented" or "unauthorized" to describe status [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Why words changed and who decided — a tug of policy and style
Federal terminology has changed because administrations and agencies set their own language policies, producing mixed official usage across time. The Biden-era guidance ordered immigration enforcement agencies to adopt "undocumented noncitizen" as part of an effort to frame enforcement more humanely, explicitly moving away from "illegal alien" in 2021, showing an administrative choice to emphasize status rather than criminality [5]. Media and style authorities like the AP followed by recommending avoidance of labels that call people "illegal," urging phrases that describe actions instead, reflecting broader professional shifts in framing and public discourse during 2024 and earlier [3]. These shifts illustrate that terminology reflects policy priorities and communicative norms rather than a single statutory lexicon [5] [3].
2. Where "illegal alien" remains explicitly used — recent federal practice
Despite moves to change language, some federal entities have explicitly resumed or continued using "illegal alien" in recent official communications, demonstrating that the term retains legal and administrative traction. In January 2025, the acting ICE director issued a memorandum directing ICE staff to use "illegal alien" replacing alternatives, showing an agency-level reversion to the older term [1]. The Department of Health and Human Services published a July 10, 2025 press release that uses "illegal aliens" in describing program eligibility changes, confirming the term’s ongoing use in federal press materials under certain administrations [2]. These actions highlight that administrative memos and press releases are the loci of change, and different agencies may adopt divergent terminologies contemporaneously [1] [2].
3. Alternatives and the arguments behind them — "undocumented", "unauthorized", "noncitizen"
Advocates for alternative labels argue the terms "undocumented immigrant", "unauthorized immigrant", or "undocumented noncitizen" better capture legal status without labeling people as criminal, focusing on lack of legal permission rather than inherent illegality [6] [4] [5]. Style guidance such as the AP warned against using the phrase "illegal immigrant", recommending journalists describe the action (living in or entering a country illegally) to avoid mischaracterizing people and to follow evolving standards for neutral, person-centered language [3]. Policy memos from 2021 formalized this preference in some agencies, showing a coherent institutional rationale: reduce dehumanizing language and align public communication with humanitarian framing and legal nuance [5] [3].
4. How dates and administrations explain the split — a timeline of terms
The split in terminology aligns closely with changes in administration and agency leadership, producing a timeline where language follows policy orientation and personnel directives. Early guidance and advocacy for alternatives appeared before and during the Biden administration, culminating in 2021 memos recommending terms like "undocumented noncitizen" [5]. Later, in 2025, agency memoranda and a department press release documented an explicit return to "illegal alien" in official practice, illustrating a reversal at multiple federal levels [1] [2]. This timeline shows that what counts as the "official" term depends on which agency’s documents and which administration’s directives you treat as controlling at a given moment, rather than a single, enduring federal designation [1] [5].
5. What this means for public use and the record — clarity, law, and politics
Practically, the choice of term matters for law enforcement, public communication, and advocacy: statutes sometimes use "alien" in legal texts, lending official force to that word, while many agencies and media prefer nonjudgmental descriptors to influence public perception and policy debates [6] [3] [5]. The 2025 uses of "illegal alien" show the term’s continued legal and administrative relevance, while earlier guidance and stylebooks reflect an institutional trend toward person-first language. Readers should understand that the "official" label is contingent and politically charged: check the specific agency policy or legal text to know which term applies in any given context [2] [5] [3].