Sotomayor Introudces Supreme Court to Phrase "Undocumented Immigrant"
The Supreme Court on Tuesday released its first four decisions in argued cases this term, which also happens to be Justice Sonia Sotomayor's first term. All four decisions were relatively minor, but one stands out on account of Sotomayor's word choice. According to the New York Times, Justice Sotomayor's opinion in the case, Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, No. 08-678, included the Supreme Court's first use the term "undocumented immigrant". In contrast, the term "illegal immigrant" has apparently appeared in a dozen earlier decisions.
Though many will make much of this utterance, I doubt that Justice Sotomayor labored over this particular word choice. It's not that I think that her word choice is insignificant, but I doubt that she consciously devoted much thought to how she'd describe people who are allegedly in the United States without proper authorization. Rather, as the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who moved to the United States during World War II, Judge Sotomayor relates to the immigrant experience, whether it be of the 'documented' or 'undocumented' variety. Language is the process through which we define the world around us and our role within it. In choosing (consciously or not) to pen the phrase "undocumented immigrant", rather than "illegal alien', Judge Sotomayor humanizes individual people who too often are dismissed and described with words designed to create the impression of a faceless mass of criminality. Not too shabby for her first opinion.
I prefer the term "undocumented immigrant". Those who love to blame immigrants for everything of course prefer "illegal" since it's more demeaning.