Here's a term that you can expect to see everywhere now:
- First, they were "illegal aliens."
- Then, "illegal immigrants"
- Next, "undocumented migrants"
- Now, "irregular migrants"
At a press briefing Tuesday, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter started by providing two updates. The first revolved around the expansion of the Central American Minors program, which provides Guatemalan, Honduran, or Salvadoran children access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
Porter stated, "As we continue to develop and expand initiatives that provide a safe, legal, and orderly alternative to dangerous irregular migration, we are announcing today the second phase of the CAM reopening that will expand the ability of tens of thousands of U.S.-based individuals to petition for children to access the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program through CAM."
"Petitioner eligibility will now be extended to legal guardians, in addition to parents, who are lawfully present in the United States," she continued. "This expansion will also allow certain parents and legal guardians who have a pending asylum application or a pending U visa petition, filed prior to May 15th, 2021, the ability to reunite with their children. This is just one component of the President's multi-pronged approach to address the challenges of irregular migration through and from Central America."
Yes, "irregular migration" is a term that's been used in political and academic circles for quite awhile (see here for a ridiculously lengthy exposition on an Oxford blog), including previous uses by the Biden administration.
It hasn't, however, been used in common vernacular for good reason, and that's because it's part of the dictionary game played by the political left. Notice that the original term was just fine for describing the act of foreign citizens illegally entering another sovereign nation.
Over time, politicians have whittled it down to be softer and softer, making their border security failures seem less important.
They say the goal is to humanize individuals such as refugees who are seeking asylum, but this apparent concern is coupled with policies that allow violent criminals, drug runners, terrorists, and human traffickers to take advantage of the system.
By the time we reach the end of this crazy train, we'll be referring to illegal aliens as "American citizens."
Frankly, I think they should just call it "regular migration" since the worsening border crisis highlights how illegal entry is pretty much how people come to America these days.
It'll be fun to see how this term catches on in other areas, too. I assume all those cases of people stealing from Walgreens stores in San Fran will now be called the "irregular redistribution of goods"!
