BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AJR 38
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Date of Hearing: June 8, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mark Stone, Chair
AJR 38
(Eduardo Garcia) - As Introduced April 27, 2016
SUBJECT: FOREIGN NATIONALS: CHANGE ACT
KEY ISSUE: SHOULD the legislature urge congress to enact
h.r.3785 ("the change act") -legislation that would prohibit
federal executive agencies from using the derogatory terms
"alien" and "illegal alien" to refer to individuals who are not
citizens or nationals of the united states?
SYNOPSIS
This measure seeks to have the Legislature urge Congress to
pass, and the President to sign, H.R. 3785 ("The CHANGE Act")
which would prohibit federal executive agencies from using the
derogatory terms "alien" and "illegal alien" to refer to
immigrants. This measure is part of a growing movement to
eliminate customary usage of the term "illegal alien" in state
and federal laws, as well as in journalism and library practice.
According to the author, the use of these terms is derogatory
and antiquated, and thus deserves to be eliminated from official
government usage. In 2013, several news organizations,
including The Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press,
announced they would not use the term "illegal immigrant" in
articles, and in March 2016, the Library of Congress announced
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that it would no longer use the term "illegal alien" as a
bibliographical term. This measure encourages passage of the
CHANGE Act to cease using these terms at the federal level,
while a previous bill by this author, AB 1850, seeks to make
similar changes in the California Education Code. AB 1850 was
approved unanimously by this Committee in April. Assuming AB
1850 is signed into law, its changes to the Education Code would
not become effective unless identical changes are also enacted
in the federal statutes, in order to ensure consistency between
related federal and state law. Thus, this measure reflects the
author's simultaneous efforts to have the Legislature urge
Congress to pass, and the President to sign, the CHANGE Act, so
that AB 1850 might also eliminate use of these terms in
California law. This measure has no known opposition.
SUMMARY: Urges Congress to enact H.R. 3785 ("The CHANGE Act")
which would prohibit federal executive agencies from using the
derogatory terms "alien" and "illegal alien" to refer to
immigrants, and that would trigger similar changes in the
California Education Code, pending the outcome of current state
legislation. Specifically, this measure:
1)Finds and declares that California has over 10 million
immigrants, coming from more than 60 countries, who are
projected to make up 27 percent of the state's population in
2030.
2)States that immigrants are a keystone part of our culture,
politics, and society, have helped shape California's strong
identity; and finds that more than a third of working-age
adults in the state are immigrants, contributing largely to
our state's entrepreneurial and economic success.
3)States that immigration remains at the center of national
debate, and that terms "illegal" and "alien," when used in
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reference to people, have undergone demeaning and derogatory
connotations and have become increasingly associated with
racist sentiments.
4)States that the legitimacy of the word "alien" as a legal
definition is being called into question with the passage of
Senate Bill 432 (2015), and finds that prominent media and
newspaper organizations nationwide have stopped using the
terms "illegal" and "alien" to describe people immigrating to,
and residing in, the United States.
5)States that H. R. 3785 has been introduced in the 114th
Congress, also known as the Correcting Hurtful and Alienating
Names in Government Expression (CHANGE) Act, that would
prohibit federal executive agencies from using the derogatory
term "alien" to refer to an individual who is not a citizen or
national of the United States.
6)Urges Congress to pass, and the President of the United States
to sign, the CHANGE Act.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW contains numerous references to "illegal
aliens," including, but not limited to, the following:
1)Section 432 (e) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
240 (e)).
2)Section 439 of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1252c).
3)Section 280 (b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1330 (b)(3)(A)(iii)).
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4)Section 286 (r)(3)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1356 (r)(3)(ii)).
5)Section 501 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
(8 U.S.C. 1365).
6)Section 332 of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of
1997 (8 U.S.C. 1366).
7)Section 411 (d) of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1621 (d)).
8)Section 40125 (a)(2) of title 49, United States Code.
EXISTING STATE LAW:
1)Makes certain findings and declarations relative to the
federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (Public Law
99-603) (the Act), including stating that as many as 1,700,000
illegal aliens could be granted amnesty and would seek
permanent residency in California under the Act. Further
states Legislative intent to establish a state test for use by
eligible aliens to attest to their understanding of English
and understanding of the history and government of the United
States, to meet the requirements of the Act. (Education Code
Section 32400.)
2)Uses the word "alien" or "resident alien" in several unrelated
sections of the Education Code, including sections pertaining
to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II,
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determination of a student's residence, and adult education,
among other things. (Education Code Sections 13000, 52613,
52651, 68062, 68130.5, and 69505.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this measure is keyed
non-fiscal.
COMMENTS: This measure urges Congress to enact H.R. 3785 ("The
CHANGE Act"), pending federal legislation which would prohibit
federal executive agencies from using the derogatory terms
"alien" and "illegal alien" to refer to immigrants, and that
would trigger similar changes in the California Education Code,
pending the outcome of the author's bill AB 1850, recently
approved by this Committee. According to the author:
Current law uses the term "illegal alien" to describe a
person who is not a citizen or national in the United
States. This language is derogatory and antiquated and
this bill would seek means to remove and replace this
word with the word "foreign national." This would
complete the effort made by the legislature to
completely remove the term "illegal aliens" from the
California code and to move society forward away from
this term.
Contingent relationship between the federal CHANGE Act and
current state legislation. Legislation pending in Congress,
titled the "Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in
Government Expression (CHANGE) Act" (H.R.3785, Castro) would
prohibit an executive agency from using the terms "alien" and
"illegal alien" in any rule, regulation, interpretation,
publication, other document, display, or sign issued by the
agency, and instead replace the term "alien" with "foreign
national," and "illegal alien" with "undocumented foreign
national." Pending state legislation, AB 1850, by the author of
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this measure, would make similar changes in the California
Education Code. Specifically, AB 1850 would replace the word
"alien" with the term "foreign national" in specified provisions
of the Education Code only if the Superintendent of Public
Instruction certifies to the Secretary of State of California
that this terminology has been changed in federal law. Because
of their relation to the federal Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986, for purposes of consistency AB 1850 would not
codify such changes to the Education Code unless identical
changes are also enacted in the federal statutes. At this time,
however, the CHANGE Act has not yet advanced in the House of
Representatives; thus, this measure reflects the author's
parallel efforts to have the Legislature urge Congress to pass,
and the President to sign, the CHANGE Act so that such
terminology would be replaced in federal law as well as in
California law, should AB 1850 be chaptered into law.
Recent movement away from the use of the term "illegal alien" by
journalists and government institutions when referring to
immigrants. This bill is another step in a growing movement to
eliminate customary usage of the term "illegal alien" in state
and federal laws, as well as in journalism and library practice.
The Pew Research Center noted in 2013 that several news
organizations, including The Los Angeles Times and The
Associated Press, announced a ban on the term "illegal
immigrant" because they said it lacked precision and broadly
labeled a large group. Their analysis of terminology used by
the news media in stories about immigrants found that the use of
the term 'illegal alien' reached its low point in 2013, dropping
to 5% of terms used-in contrast to the other periods studied,
where its use had consistently been in double digits (peaking at
21% in 2007). According to the Pew Center study, this
corresponded with increased use in the press of alternative
terms such as "undocumented immigrant" or "undocumented person"
over that time period. (Available at:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/17/illegal-undocumen
ted-unauthorized-news-media-shift-language-on-immigration/. )
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Last year the Legislature approved and the Governor signed SB
432 (Mendoza), Ch. 160, Stats. 2015, which eliminates references
to "alien" throughout the Labor Code. In a Los Angeles Times
editorial, Sen. Mendoza was quoted as saying: " 'Alien' is now
commonly considered a derogatory term for a foreign-born person
and has very negative connotations. The United States is a
country of immigrants who not only form an integral part of our
culture and society but are also critical contributors to our
economic success." (See:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0814-vargas-illegal-al
ien-20150813-story.html. )
Finally, even the Library of Congress has taken steps to
eliminate the term "illegal alien" by announcing in late March
that it would no longer use that term as a bibliographical term.
According to a recent article in the L.A. Times, the Library of
Congress has used the term "illegal aliens" as a catalog subject
heading since 1993, and before that they had used the term
"aliens, illegal" since 1980. ("Library of Congress to stop
using term 'illegal alien'"; Los Angeles Times, April 3, 2016.
Available at:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-library-congress-alien-201604
03-story.html .)
Pending Legislation: AB 1850 (E. Garcia) seeks to remove the
term "illegal alien" from various sections of the Education Code
where it appears, and replace it with the term "foreign
national," or other more appropriate term, depending on the
context. Under the bill, these changes would only become
effective if the CHANGE Act is enacted into law by Congress and
signed by the President. AB 1850 is pending hearing in the
Senate Education Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334