The Associated Press (AP) reported Sunday that “immigrants” were being trained by activist groups in Los Angeles and around the country to avoid deportation.
The term “immigrants” once referred to foreigners who had undertaken a legal process of joining American society. It has since been re-defined by left-wing groups and mainstream media outlets to include illegal aliens, who do not have the same legal status as “immigrants,” and, at best, enjoy deferral from deportation.
The use of the term “immigrants” to describe both legal and illegal aliens is arguably a political act, creating new political pressure on Congress to grant legal status to illegal aliens.
In April 2013, the AP announced it would no longer use the term “illegal” to describe those present in the country illegally. “Is this the best way to describe someone in a country without permission? We believe that it is for now. We also believe more evolution is likely down the road,” the AP said at the time.
“Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegals or undocumented,” the AP advised. The results are evident in the AP’s Sunday evening report, which describes illegal aliens as “immigrants in the country illegally.”
The substance of the report describes efforts already reported elsewhere by Breitbart News, as activists train illegal aliens to avoid questions posed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, and to deny them entry into their homes:
NEW YORK — Don’t open the front door if immigration officials knock. If you are taken into custody, tell them your name and nothing else. Definitely don’t sign anything.
That is some of the advice being given in New York City and around the country at training sessions, put on by advocacy organizations, aimed at helping immigrants living in the country illegally get in as little trouble as possible if they encounter U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
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In Los Angeles, Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said his organization is trying to train more people to conduct know-your-rights presentations at schools and churches to keep up with rising community demand.
There is little evidence from the AP report that illegal aliens are being advised about how to obtain legal status through legitimate legal processes — only how to avoid ICE.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.