USCIS Updates Policy Manual to Replace Use of “Foreign National”

Despite being understaffed, overworked, and backlogged at historical rates, USCIS has found time to update its Policy Manual to change all references of “foreign national” to “alien.”  This change is widely viewed as unnecessary and intended to further stoke anti-immigrant sentiment, as “alien” is seen by many to be an offensive term.  For that reason, the Library of Congress has already stricken “illegal alien” as a subject heading, and California has likewise removed the term from its Labor Code.