The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will now refer to non-U.S. citizens as “aliens” in its regulations, according to a change announced Friday.
The decision was included in a final rule signed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The government said it was making the change to “align TSA’s regulatory language with statutory terms and definitions in the Immigration and Nationality Act,” a law enacted in 1952.
President Trump’s administration has already been using the term “alien” in executive orders and on government websites. The TSA’s change further expands its usage, which some advocates and prior administrations have said dehumanizes non-U.S. persons.
The policy reverses U.S. government moves under former President Biden to reduce the use of the word, such as removing in 2021 references to “aliens” from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy manual.
TSA’s change didn’t go through the normal notice-and-comment period required of most government regulations, according to the final rule, because it “has no substantive effect on the regulatory requirements and places no stamp of approval or disapproval on any type of behavior.”
Versprille writes for Bloomberg.