Celebrated lawyer and media pundit Jeffrey Toobin has given up referring to undocumented immigrants as “illegals,” calling the term “toxic” and “pejorative.”
Writing in the New Yorker Wednesday, Toobin didn’t apologize for using the term in a recent article but said he won’t do it again. He said he was pressured by readers.
Jeffrey Toobin decries the word “illegal.” AP Photo
“If we were being technical, it may be more accurate to describe these individuals’ status as ‘unauthorized’ rather than undocumented or illegal,” he wrote.
In a column analyzing his use of the word, he wrote, “Certain conventions become obligatory over time. ‘Negro’ gave way to ‘black’ and ‘African-American.’ ‘Ms.’ became universal. The question, then, is whether ‘illegal immigrant’ has become so widely regarded as pejorative that it should be excluded from civilized discourse. When I wrote my article, I thought it had not; I now think that I may have been wrong. Indeed, the term may have become so toxic that it violates my second principle — by calling attention to itself.”
He concluded: “There does seem to be a consensus against the use of the term by the people most affected by it, who happen to be a vulnerable minority seeking a better life, and that’s good enough for me. Personally, I’m dropping the use of the term ‘illegal immigrant.'”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
