Two US States Drop 'Demeaning’ Terms for Immigrants
State Sen. Julie Gonzales, who co-sponsored the new Colorado law, said during a legislative committee hearing that words such as "illegal" were "dehumanizing and derogatory" when applied to immigrants. Gonzales said the legislation aimed to remove the only place in Colorado statute where "illegal alien" was used to describe people living in the U.S. illegally.
"That language has been offensive for many people," she said. "And some of the rationale behind that is really rooted in this idea that a person can certainly commit an illegal act, but no human being themselves is illegal."