“…it is our newspaper style not to use the term “alien” when referring to illegal immigration.”
Boston Globe letters editor to me via email regarding my letter [1] submission in which I used the legal and accurate term “illegal alien”. It is allowed and used in state law, federal law, by law enforcement, the IRS, Presidential Executive Orders, and SCOTUS. Just sayin’.
Definition of alien (Merriam Webster [2])
1a : belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing : strange [3]
- an alienenvironment
b : relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government : foreign [4]
- alien residents
c : exotic [5] 1
- alien plants
2: differing in nature or character typically to the point of incompatibility
- ideas alien to democracy