New results from a Rassmussen Reports survey show that 62% of voters polled approve of the terms “Illegal Immigrant” and “illegal alien” to describe immigrants who don’t enter the United States legally.
The phrase “illegal alien” received extra attention after President Joe Biden used it during his most recent State of the Union Address to describe José Antonio Ibarra – the 26-year-old Venezuelan accused of murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, but later apologized for using the term “illegal.” In 2013, the Associated Press Stylebook, which is the primary guideline followed by mainstream news outlets, replaced the phrase “Illegal Immigrant” with “Undocumented immigrant.”
Rasmussen’s poll of 1,149 likely voters was conducted last week and found that 80% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 60% of voters not affiliated with either party choose “illegal alien” or “illegal immigrant” as the proper term for those who violate U.S. law by crossing the border. The survey also showed that 35% of Likely U.S. Voters say “illegal alien” is the best way to describe foreigners who cross the U.S. border in violation of our immigration laws, while 27% say “illegal immigrant” is the best term, while 20% consider “undocumented migrant” the best description, and 12% prefer “asylum seeker.”
