--- title: DOJ: Call Undocumented Immigrants 'Illegal Aliens' description: The U.S. Justice Department has decreed that U.S. attorney offices should refer to immigrants unlawfully in the country as "illegal aliens." canonical: https://time.com/5349694/doj-press-illegal-undocumented/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-26T12:30:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:58:19.982Z article:section: Politics og:title: Justice Department Says Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Called 'Illegal Aliens' og:description: "The word 'undocumented' is not based in US code and should not be used to describe someone's illegal presence in the country" og:url: https://time.com/5349694/doj-press-illegal-undocumented/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt420a1c8910a58e42/69893659fb4eac06cf89735e/gettyimages-975371894.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: AG Jeff Sessions Delivers Remarks On Immigration And Law Enforcement In PA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justice Department Says Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Called 'Illegal Aliens' twitter:description: "The word 'undocumented' is not based in US code and should not be used to describe someone's illegal presence in the country" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt420a1c8910a58e42/69893659fb4eac06cf89735e/gettyimages-975371894.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justice Department Says Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Called 'Illegal Aliens' by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Jul 26, 2018 12:30 PM UTC  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks on immigration and law enforcement actions on at Lackawanna College June 15, 2018 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks on immigration and law enforcement actions on at Lackawanna College June 15, 2018 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.Jessica Kourkounis—Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Jul 26, 2018 12:30 PM UTC The U.S. Justice Department has decreed that U.S. attorney offices should refer to immigrants unlawfully in the country as “illegal aliens,” rather than “undocumented.” “The word ‘undocumented’ is not based in US code and should not be used to describe someone’s illegal presence in the country,” an internal Justice Department email obtained by [CNN](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/justice-department-illegal-aliens-undocumented/index.html) said. CNN reported the story on Wednesday; it’s unclear when the email was sent. The email, available in full [here](http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2018/images/07/24/pio%5Fguidance.pdf), serves as a reference point for those within the department who handle public relations, “to clear up some confusion and to be consistent in the way we draft our releases.” Additionally, the email states that in Justice Department press releases, the “illegal alien” in question should be described “according to their citizenship, not their city or state of residence.” “For instance ‘a Honduran man residing in Toledo’ is correct,” the email reads. “‘Toledo Man’ doesn’t accurately describe his residency.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5349694/doj-press-illegal-undocumented/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5349694/doj-press-illegal-undocumented/"},"headline":"Justice Department Says Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Called 'Illegal Aliens'","datePublished":"2018-07-26T12:30:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:58:19.982Z","description":"\"The word 'undocumented' is not based in US code and should not be used to describe someone's illegal presence in the country\"","url":"https://time.com/5349694/doj-press-illegal-undocumented/","keywords":["Immigration","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt420a1c8910a58e42/69893659fb4eac06cf89735e/gettyimages-975371894.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt420a1c8910a58e42/69893659fb4eac06cf89735e/gettyimages-975371894.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AG Jeff Sessions Delivers Remarks On Immigration And Law Enforcement In PA","caption":"AG Jeff Sessions Delivers Remarks On Immigration And Law Enforcement In PA","creditText":"Jessica Kourkounis—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5349694/doj-press-illegal-undocumented/","name":"Justice Department Says Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Called 'Illegal Aliens'"}}]}] ```