Emails, Jeffrey R. Baker, director of clinical education and associate clinical professor of law, Pepperdine School of Law, April 20 and 24, 2018
On Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 8:59 AM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
Professor Childress:
I write seeking your expertise on behalf of Austin’s daily newspaper and the fact-checking PolitiFact Texas project as we evaluate the accuracy of a recent claim by Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. This week, McCraw testified, as noted in this news story, that he uses the term “illegal alien” because it appears in federal law.
Was McCraw right about that term being in federal statute?
To this moment, Denise Gilman of the University of Texas School of Law and Rick Su of the University of Buffalo School of Law have each told us that “illegal alien” scarcely appears in statute. Gilman said today: “It isn’t in the main immigration law. To the extent it’s in any statute,” she said, those mentions are specific and discrete.
If that’s correct, what’s the significance of the term?
I wonder too how the word “alien” entered federal law and when.
Other thoughts for our story?
We count on attributable on-the-record information for our fact-checks. I would be grateful to hear from you today by phone or email.
Cheers,
g.
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W. Gardner Selby
Reporter / News
Austin American-Statesman
PolitiFact Texas
On Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 12:15 PM, Donald E Childress wrote:
Dear Gardner,
Thanks for your email. Due to other matters, I am not able to turn to this today. However, I am copying on this email my colleague, Professor Jeff Baker. Professor Baker has worked extensively on immigration matters. I am hoping that he can help you.
All the best, and please do continue to let me know if I can be of help.
Trey
Donald Earl Childress III
Dean of Faculty
Professor of Law
Pepperdine University School of Law
2:44 p.m.
April 20, 2018
Thank you for your note and inquiry.
Without embarking on significant research on the law and the history of the law, I can respond to your questions with some limited insight on the record.
The term "alien" is common in the United States Code and in U.S. law, although the term "illegal alien" is very rare in the statutes. In the Code, "alien" typically means someone who is not a citizen, and, despite the current political uses and preferences (including my own), this is fairly common. I do not know when "alien" entered the law with this usage, but I am mindful that Pres. Adams signed the very controversial Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. That was not the "Illegal Alien and Sedition Acts," however.
I strongly favor other language in our national discourse. "Alien" may be a technical term of art, but "illegal alien" is almost always pejorative in contemporary usage.
I hope that is helpful.
JRB
On Tue, Apr 24, 2018 at 8:40 AM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
Hello again. Each of you was kind enough to respond when I asked last week about the presence of “illegal aliens” in federal law. You universally said that it’s scarcely so (of course, tell me if I misread!).
We separately heard back from a federal official who noted the mentions of “illegal aliens” I am sharing below. Does what this official shared have significance to the accuracy of the claim we’re checking? Why or why not? Reply ALL if you’d like to share with your fellow legal experts.
To rehash, Steve McCraw of the Texas DPS was asked if the agency could reconsider referring to unauthorized immigrants as illegal aliens. “I always use IAs,” McCraw replied. “It’s a legal term, a federal term in statute, and it’s not intended to degrade anyone in any shape or form,” he said. We had asked you if he was right about the term being in federal statute.
Here is the federal official’s reply to us:
You can find instances of the term “illegal alien” in federal law. A few examples are: 8 USC 1252(c), 1365, and Section 204 and 332 of the Illegal Immigration and Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996.
Arwen FitzGerald
Public Affairs Officer – Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico
Office of Communications | U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
g.
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W. Gardner Selby
Reporter / News
Austin American-Statesman
PolitiFact Texas
11:03 a.m.
April 24, 2018
This limited use is consistent with my response to you earlier, and I will let that response stand without anything further on the record.
Thank you for careful reporting.
JRB