Pejorative word should not be used

Lisa Navarrete, vice president, National Council of La Raza - Washington, D.C.

A recent headline posted on USATODAY.com, "Groups try to delay deportations of illegal students," was misleading and a notable example of ungrammatical writing (Dec. 15).

The use of "illegal" as a stand-alone word highlights and reinforces how this term has become pejorative shorthand for anyone, especially anyone Latino, suspected of being in the country illegally. The article makes clear that these are students with undocumented immigration status, not kids enrolled in school illegally.

We have long argued for media outlets not to use such a loaded term. I will believe the assertion that this was simply a word-saving measure to describe a violation of the law when headlines appear in your newspaper such as "Illegal mayor vows to appeal conviction" or "Illegal pharmaceutical company pays record fine for unfair marketing practices."

Posted at 12:08 AM/ET, December 23, 2009 in Immigration - Letters, Letter to the editor
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