“Noncitizens”: The Importance of Language in the Immigration Conversation and Impacting Lasting Change | Joseph & Hall P.C.

Not just like the brazen big of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Right here at our sea-washed, sundown gates shall stand

A mighty girl with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her title

Mom of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her gentle eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities body.

“Preserve, historical lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your drained, your poor,

Your huddled lots craving to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Ship these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I raise my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus – The New Colossus – November 2, 1883

The above are the phrases inscribed on the plaque on the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The Statue of Liberty, “Girl Liberty” (colloquially), or “The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World,” as she is extra formally recognized, was a present of friendship from the folks of France to the US and has been acknowledged domestically and internationally as an emblem of freedom and democracy since her dedication in October 1886. “Girl Liberty” and the poem inscribed beneath her toes acknowledge that the US is a nation of immigrants; and on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, the Biden Administration proposed a change to the immigration legal guidelines of the US to replicate the identical.

On day considered one of his presidency, President Biden despatched a invoice to Congress that seeks to modernize and reform the U.S. immigration system and “to revive humanity and American values to [that] system.” Of be aware, the proposed invoice “additional acknowledges America as a nation of immigrants by altering the phrase ‘alien’ to ‘noncitizen’ in our immigration legal guidelines.” This proposed change comes as each welcome and long-awaited to immigration advocates, significantly after 4 years of divisive and dehumanizing language and actions by the prior administration.

Consistent with altering attitudes and fostering unity and inclusion within the context of immigration, the American Immigration Council (AIC) lately established the AIC Middle for Inclusion and Belonging. Because the Middle’s Mission Assertion reads: “In the present day, many in energy are utilizing the difficulty of immigration to ignite a deep sense of worry and menace … and are activating an ‘us vs. them’ narrative to their political benefit.” The assertion goes on to query “why … so many [are] receptive to divisive messaging” and to delve additional into the subject, which you will learn extra about right here: https://inclusion.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/home-inclusion.

Certainly, whereas altering one phrase in our legal guidelines could not seem to be a monumental change to all, you will need to perceive the influence that language and language patterns have on our perceptions, beliefs, worldviews, actions, and behaviors. Language is how concepts—fears, falsehoods, prejudices, biases, and divisiveness, on one hand; confidence, information, understanding, tolerance, acceptance, concord, and neighborhood, on the opposite—are unfold. The truth is, researchers have discovered that even well-meaning statements can unintentionally perpetuate biases. It thereby follows that being extra intentional with our language, in our legal guidelines and in our lives, serves to find out which concepts can have lasting energy and which of them won’t. Within the context of immigration, altering our language—even beginning with only one phrase, significantly when supported and utilized by these in positions of management—has the facility to alter the dialog round immigrants’ rights and the way forward for immigration legislation in the US and, in flip, to shift attitudes and to influence lasting cultural and legislative change.

So, no, altering one phrase within the legal guidelines, by itself, won’t reunite households, restore our financial system, or do something of the type. Nevertheless, the truth that we’re even having this dialog, lastly, within the first weeks of 2021, signifies that the tides are altering and that we have now an administration in place who’s critical not solely about reforming our immigration legal guidelines but additionally about treating people like people, regardless of the place they hail from—and that’s every thing.

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For extra data concerning the substantive measures proposed within the invoice and different modifications made by the Biden Administration in its first days, please discuss with prior weblog posts:

This data is meant for academic functions solely. You probably have questions on your eligibility for an immigration profit or your immigration choices, please contact Joseph & Corridor at (303) 297-9171 to schedule a session with considered one of our skilled attorneys. In case you are already a consumer of Joseph & Corridor and have questions on your case, please contact your lawyer to debate your specific case.

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