Undocumented Populations: The Power of Language in the Library: The Battle to Change the Subject Heading "Illegal Aliens"
Details and resources on how student activists urged the Library of Congress to change an offensive subject heading, Congress intervened, and the CSU Libraries responded.
What is a Subject Heading?
In short, a subject heading is a word or phrase that describes a source. Students and researchers use subject headings to help them determine what a book, etc. is about. You can also search for materials using subject headings. In this way, subject headings are similar to hashtags. In the example below, the subjects tell us this book is about physical fitness and physical education for children in the United States.
For consistency, many libraries (including CSU libraries) use subject headings determined by the Library of Congress for items in their catalog (what you see when you search OneSearch's "Books & Media").
- The Bias Hiding in Your LibraryExploration of biased library classification systems by librarian Amanda Ros.
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Deportable and Disposable: Public Rhetoric and the Making of the “Illegal” Immigrant by Call Number: EbookISBN: 0271088672Publication Date: 2021In the 1920s, the US government passed legislation against undocumented entry into the country, and as a result the figure of the “illegal alien” took form in the national discourse. In this book, Lisa A. Flores explores the history of our language about Mexican immigrants and exposes how our words made these migrants “illegal.”
A is for asylum seeker: words for people on the move = A de asilo: palabras para personas en movimiento by Call Number: EbookISBN: 0823289168Publication Date: 2020A mass-mediated political circus obscures both histories of migration and longstanding definitions of words for people on the move, fomenting widespread linguistic confusion. Yet in a world where the differences between "undocumented migrant" and "asylum seeker" can mean life or death, words have weighty consequences. A timely antidote to this circus, A is for Asylum Seeker reframes key words that describe people on the move. Text in both English and Spanish.
A Brief Timeline of Events
February 2014. A Dartmouth student discovers the subject heading “illegal aliens” in her library’s online catalog. She shares this with fellow student activists of the Dartmouth Coalition for Immigration Reform, Equality, and DREAMERs (CoFIRED).
July 2014. CoFIRED works with Dartmouth librarians to create and submit an official subject heading change proposal. In it, they ask the Library of Congress to change “illegal aliens” to “undocumented immigrants.”
March 2016. The Library of Congress announces it will replace “illegal aliens” with “noncitizens” and/or “unauthorized immigration.” It states that “the terms ‘illegal’ and ‘alien,’ when used in reference to people, have undergone pejoration and acquired derogatory connotations, becoming increasingly associated with nativist and racist sentiments.”
Spring 2016. The House of Representatives orders the Library of Congress to continue using “illegal aliens,” as this is the terminology used in federal law. This is the first time Congress has ever intervened in a planned Library of Congress subject heading change.
January 2020. Recognizing that offensive and dehumanizing subject headings are “no longer appropriate for unbiased library cataloging that respects and reflects our diverse society,” the CSU Libraries replace “illegal aliens” with “undocumented immigrants” and “aliens” with “noncitizens” in records in its Unified Library Management System. The older subject headings remain searchable, but the new terms are displayed in OneSearch’s “Books & Media” options.
April 2021. The Biden Administration directs department heads at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to stop using terms such as “alien,” “illegal alien” and “assimilation” when referring to immigrants in the United States. “Alien” will become “noncitizen or migrant,” “illegal” will become “undocumented,” and “assimilation” will change to “integration.” The Library of Congress subject headings remain.
November 2021. The Library of Congress replaces the subject headings "aliens" and "illegal aliens" with new subject headings "noncitizens" and "illegal immigration." Although this change removed the offensive term "aliens" from use, use of the term "illegal" remains, frustrating many activists who advocated for the term "undocumented." The CSU Libraries retain their use of the term "Undocumented immigrants."
- Timeline of "Illegal Aliens" Subject Heading Change PetitionDetailed timeline through June 2016
CSU Decision
- California State University Libraries to Change the Display of the Subject Heading “Illegal Aliens” in Joint Public CatalogDecember 2019 statement from the CSU Libraries Network detailing the decision to change how the offensive subject headings are displayed in catalog records.
Additional Information
- H.R.4926 - Stopping Partisan Policy at the Library of Congress ActBill introduced by Diane Black (R-TN) in April 2016 that "direct[s] the Librarian of Congress to retain the headings “Aliens” and “Illegal aliens” in the Library of Congress Subject Headings." Bill died in the House.
- H. Rept. 114-594 - LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2017May 2016 Appropriations Committee Report stating that "To the extent practicable, the Committee instructs the Library to maintain certain subject headings that reflect terminology used in title 8, United States Code."
- H.R.3776 - Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government Expression (CHANGE) ActProposed legislation that eliminates the term “alien” and “illegal alien” from the Immigration and Nationality Act, and replaces them with “foreign national” and “undocumented foreign national,” respectively. Introduced by Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX) in July 2019.
Change the Subject shares the story of a group of college students, who from their first days at Dartmouth College, were committed to advancing and promoting the rights and dignity of undocumented peoples. In partnership with staff at Dartmouth, these students – now alumni – produced a film to capture their singular effort at confronting an instance of anti-immigrant sentiment in their library catalog. Their advocacy took them all the way from Baker-Berry Library to the halls of Congress, showing how an instance of campus activism entered the national spotlight, and how a cataloging term became a flashpoint in the immigration debate on Capitol Hill.