USA Today changed the phrase “illegal students” in the title of an article from last week after over 500 concerned readers wrote letters condemning the language. Change.org and DreamActivist.org organized the letter writers, and the article now refers to “illegal immigrant students.”

The article, “Groups try to delay deportations of illegal immigrant students,” was about several recent incidents in which undocumented students were threatened with deportation.

Letter-writers argued that no people should be considered “illegal,” and that the use of the phrase promotes a hostile and dehumanizing attitude towards immigrants. They also argue that in the particular circumstances of undocumented or unauthorized college students, the term is inaccurate.  “Even if Bazar is talking about higher education, universities and colleges are not legally barred from teaching to undocumented immigrants so long as they pay their own tuition bills,” said Erin Rosa at Campus Progress.

Petition-organizer Prerna Lal wrote about the campaign against USA Today’s use of the term on Change.org.

“This subtle change tells us that a few hundred emails and calls have the power to drive change,” wrote Lal enthusiastically.

“There should be some solace in knowing that any media source that refers to immigrant students as ‘illegal students’ will have to bear the brunt of young immigrants who simply want the right to define themselves.”

DreamActivist.org is an organization that works towards passage of the DREAM Act, legislation that would allow undocumented college students to gain a legal path to citizenship.


More from USA Today
More from Change.org
More from America’s Voice Online
More from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights