NYC Human Rights Commission Says Using Term ‘Illegal Alien’ Is ‘Unlawful’

Using the term “illegal alien” with an intent to offend is now considered unlawful discrimination, according to New York City’s Commission on Human Rights.

“Furthermore, the use of the terms ‘illegal alien’ and ‘illegals,’ with the intent to demean, humiliate, or offend a patron, amounts to unlawful discrimination under the [New York City Human Rights Law],” the document released Wednesday by the commission stated.

The document added that use of these terms “may carry negative connotations and dehumanize immigrants, marking them as ‘other.’”

The commission posted the document to Twitter on Wednesday:

Discrimination in employment based on your actual or perceived immigration status or national origin is illegal in our city. Learn more in our latest legal enforcement guidance: https://t.co/3rM491d6It pic.twitter.com/J5EGvGpcQ0

— NYC Human Rights (@NYCCHR) September 25, 2019

“This guidance uses the term ‘immigration status’ wherever possible, as the term ‘alienage,’ as a derivative of ‘alien,’ may be offensive,” the document concluded.

Jessie Hahn, a labor and policy attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, praised the move in a recent statement.

“At a time when hateful political rhetoric is engendering a climate where private employers and landlords are increasingly discriminating and retaliating against immigrant workers and tenants on the basis of their status, these kinds of enforcement actions are urgently needed,” she said.

However, Breitbart News reported on August 19 that the sanctuary city of New York City likely freed nearly 3,000 illegal aliens arrested for various crimes in the past, according to records from the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

“Specifically, the NYPD failed to honor 2,916 requests by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, to hold criminal illegal aliens in local custody and turn them over to federal agents for arrest and deportation,” the report stated.

On April 12, President Trump said he would send more illegal aliens to Democrat-run sanctuary cities unless they changed the existing “insane” immigration and asylum laws.

“If they don’t agree, we might as well do what they always say they want: We’ll bring the illegals … We’ll bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it, whether it’s a state or whatever it might be,” he said.

“They’re always saying they have open arms,” he commented. “Let’s see if they have open arms.”