ABOUT THOSE 'ILLEGAL ALIENS'.

• Date: 01 April 2020
• Author: Higgins, Maeve

As a writer, I have two daily obsessions. One is coffee, the other is language. I'm not a snob about either; I just need them both to make my brain work. In these strange and dangerous days of COVID-19, both of them keep me sane.

But if I had to choose only one, I'd give up my beloved coffee for words. I understand how important language is in my own life, so I keep an eye on how it operates, the work it does, and the influence it has.

An important choice must be made by each of us when we talk about people who were not born in the United States but are living here without legal status. Perhaps that's you, or someone in your family. It's surely someone in your community. Best estimates place the number of people in this circumstance at about 10.5 million.

When I talk about this group, I use the words "undocumented immigrants." When President Donald Trump talks, he prefers the words "illegal aliens." Or at least that's the term he uses...