Ted Cruz Rips Biden’s Latest Order To Drop “Illegal Alien” Term — Says It Is “Orwellian”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz blasted President Joe Biden for his recent order to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to drop the use of terms like “illegal alien,” and “assimilation” when referring to immigrants seeking to enter the country.
The Republican lawmaker described Biden’s order as “Orwellian” and a move to “cover-up” the truth regarding the worsening crisis at the US-Mexico border.
“Approaching his first 100 days in office, Biden has done more to enact speech codes, silence the media & cover up the truth than he has done to secure the border and end the [Biden border crisis],” Cruz posted on Twitter.
Orwellian move from Joe Biden.
Approaching his first 100 days in office, Biden has done more to enact speech codes, silence the media & cover up the truth than he has done to secure the border and end the #BidenBorderCrisis https://t.co/GbULwjcM2g
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 19, 2021
The Washington Post first reported that Biden’s order came in the form of memos sent to the top officials of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
“As the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, we set a tone and example for our country and partners across the world,” CBP’s Acting Commissioner Troy Miller reportedly wrote in one of the memos.
“We enforce our nation’s laws while also maintaining the dignity of every individual with whom we interact. The words we use matter and will serve to further confer that dignity to those in our custody.”
Separately, ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson also wrote that “in response to the vision set by the Administration, ICE will ensure agency communications use the preferred terminology and inclusive language.”
An official from the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News the changes in the language that will be used by ICE and CBP to refer to those who enter the country illegally.
The Democratic president wants the border security and immigration officials to replace the term “alien” with “noncitizen or migrant,” “alienage” will be replaced by “noncitizenship” and “unaccompanied alien children” will be termed as “noncitizen unaccompanied children,” instead.
The use of “undocumented alien” and “illegal alien” will also be dropped and replaced with “undocumented noncitizen, undocumented individual or migrant.”
The term “assimilation” will also be changed to “integration or civil integration” and the use of “immigrant assimilation” will be termed “immigrant integration” instead.
The Biden admin has ordered U.S. immigration enforcement agencies to stop using terms such as 'alien,' 'illegal alien' and 'assimilation' when referring to immigrants in the United States, a rebuke of terms widely used under the Trump admin. https://t.co/1q9UXgYjTY
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 19, 2021
Biden has long criticized the tighter border measures of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump — which was earlier able to tide the number of crossers in the country’s southern border.
Meanwhile, ahead of his inauguration, the Democratic President reportedly already raised his plan to “overhaul of immigration laws” on his first day in office, as part of his alleged “broader strategy” to address the country’s migration problems by solving its “root causes”.
In one of his very first policy actions as US President, Biden wrote: “The policy of my Administration is to protect national and border security, address the humanitarian challenges at the southern border, and ensure public health and safety.”
“We must also adhere to due process of law as we safeguard the dignity and well-being of all families and communities. My Administration will reset the policies and practices for enforcing civil immigration laws to align enforcement with these values and priorities,” he added.
Earlier, he also signaled that he wants the refugee and asylum systems “back to a more humane and orderly process.”
Biden to increase refugees limit
The move of Biden to change the language being used to refer to illegal aliens comes as resources at the border continue to be overwhelmed by the unprecedented increase in the number of asylum seekers at the southern border.
Ironically, however, the Biden administration was reportedly planning to keep refugee admissions to 15,000 — the same limit issued by former President Trump.
After criticism from lawmakers and refugee advocacy groups over the executive order limiting the refugee admissions to 15,000 (the same limit issued by former President Donald Trump), President Biden plans to increase the refugee cap by May 15.#refugee #immigration #lawyer pic.twitter.com/C8PPlTVS81
— Law Offices of Jezic & Moyse (@LawJezic) April 19, 2021
“We’re going to increase the number [of refugees],” Biden said. “The problem was that the refugee part was working on the crisis that ended up on the border with young people. We couldn’t do two things at once. But now we are going to increase the number.”
His comments came in response to backlash over his reported decision not to raise the cap on the number of refugees the country will take this fiscal year. Without more details on the increase, the Democratic President is said to announce the new numbers by May 15.
FWIW: As a candidate, Biden promised to increase _next_ year's cap. Only after he got into office did he and his admin say they were also going to raise it to 65K for _this_ year. And then they just…didn't. https://t.co/pAhvE4jnxu
— Dara Lind (@DLind) April 16, 2021
Biden and his administration continue to downplay the border situation — refusing to call it a crisis despite at least 172,000 migrant encounters in March alone and record-breaking numbers in terms of unaccompanied minors entering the country.
Meanwhile, related to his move to drop some terms related to illegal immigrants, federal law refers to an “alien” as any person not a citizen or national of the United States. Federal law also often refers to the term “illegal aliens.”
