Hillary Clinton Pledges To Stop Using Phrase ‘Illegal Immigrant’

Facing an onslaught of criticism from the immigrant community as well as former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s presidential campaign, Clinton said Tuesday during an online Facebook event that she will no longer refer to immigrants who enter the the country illegally or overstay their visas as “illegal immigrants.”

“That was a poor choice of words,” Clinton said in response to a question about the words “illegal immigrant.” According to a Yahoo News report, the question came from immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas who has been rallying candidates to think more carefully about their use of the phrase. “As I’ve said throughout this campaign, the people at the heart of this issue are children, parents, families, DREAMers. They have names, and hopes and dreams that deserve to be respected.”

Clinton most recently attracted the ire of immigration activists when she invoked invoked the phrase “illegal immigrant” during a stop in New Hampshire.

“Look, I voted numerous times when I was a senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in,” Clinton said at the time.

But, in a Democratic primary campaign where Clinton has tried to present herself as even more progressive on immigration than President Obama with promises that she would expand executive actions for immigrants in the country, the phrase “illegal immigrant” has become a lightning rod. After Clinton used the phrase in New Hampshire, the O’Malley campaign released a statement blasting her for it.

“Words matter, and no human being is illegal,” an O’Malley campaign statement from Nov. 10 said. “This offensive rhetoric has no place in our Party. We need to stand up and lead with the compassionate message and actions that make us who we are.”