![U.S. immigration agencies drop use of terms like "illegal alien" and "assimilation"](https://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2018/12/26/a9ff2ce3-5bc3-494a-9f15-14f7b414bfe6/thumbnail/1200x630/718a2dc1f6429bfea9f67cd55fa00f27/cbp.jpg)
U.S. immigration agencies drop use of terms like "illegal alien" and "assimilation"
CBSN
The leaders of the two U.S. immigration enforcement agencies on Monday directed staff to use words like "noncitizen" and "integration" instead of "alien" and "assimilation" as part of a Biden administration effort to discard immigration terms viewed as dehumanizing, according to memos obtained by CBS News.
Troy Miller and Tae Johnson, the interim heads of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), issued separate memos outlining new guidelines governing the use of certain immigration terms in internal and external communications, like public statements. The memos instruct ICE and CBP employees to use "migrant" or "noncitizen" instead of "alien." The latter term is found in U.S. law, where it is used to refer to a wide-ranging group of immigrants, from those without legal permission to be in the country, to green card holders. Advocates have long derided the term, saying it has contributed to the dehumanization of immigrants.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214202746.jpg)
Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.