Dartmouth Coalition for Immigration Reform, Equality and DREAMers’ petition to the Library of Congress last summer to use the word “undocumented” instead of “illegal” when describing immigrants in subject headings was not approved, the group announced in early January.
In the spring of 2014, CoFIRED originally asked for Baker-Berry Library to formally change the way it refers to undocumented immigrants and was informed by library that the subject heading policy was determined by national procedures created by the LOC.
CoFIRED co-founder Halimo Hassen ’17 said that the Dartmouth Library staff was very helpful in the group’s efforts and lent their expertise to help formulate the petition.
CoFIRED and the library staff have been involved in the initiative for nearly a year, Hassen said, and many members put a great amount of effort into the proposal.
The Library of Congress responded to the group’s initiative at the start of winter term, telling them that their petition would not move forward in the process. The LOC responded that it would not change the structure of its cataloguing system, which currently uses the term “illegal” to describe undocumented immigrants.
On its Facebook page, CoFIRED described the term “illegal alien” as a “dehumanizing, inaccurate, offensive and inflammatory term.”
Hassen noted that the group was disappointed that their petition was denied, but said they were optimistic going forward. CoFIRED is interested in entering the larger national debate on immigration issues in the future, as the group currently only focuses on undocumented students at Dartmouth and other colleges.
Daniela Pelaez ’16 added that although many members were disappointed with the result, the process was both exciting and rewarding.
She says one of CoFIRED’s main objectives is to “provide a voice for undocumented students on campus.” She said the organization was founded last year by a group of undocumented students who wanted to raise awareness about the issues associated with being undocumented. In addition to the petition, CoFIRED ran a flier campaign aimed at promoting awareness and dispelling myths about undocumented immigrants on campus, she said. The group also hosted an event in coordination with the “Drop the I-Word” campaign that featured a lecture on the topic from Institute of Writing and Rhetoric lecturer Claudia Anguiano.
Despite the denial of their petition, CoFIRED’s initiatives have allowed the group to expand its network to other colleges, Pelaez said. Pelaez said she hopes to see a conference of groups formed between Ivy League colleges.
Additionally, Hassen hopes CoFIRED can aid other universities in putting forward another petition.
In 2010, national organization Race Forward began its “Drop the I-Word” campaign, petitioning journalists and media outlets to avoid using certain terms to describe undocumented immigrants. Race Forward says terms like “illegal immigrant” are racially-charged and legally incorrect. While using “illegal” to describe actions is appropriate, the group says, it is dehumanizing to describe people in this way. In response to the campaign, the Associated Press changed its widely-referenced stylebook to omit the term in April 2013. While CoFIRED’s petition was unrelated to the Race Forward campaign, Hassen said, the group is supportive of the national campaign.
An effort stemming from the national “Drop the I-word” campaign was successful at the University of California at Los Angeles, which recently passed a resolution requiring the use of “undocumented” over “illegal” by campus organizations. Irmary Garcia — the Cultural Affairs Commissioner for UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association — wrote in an email that the reasoning behind the ban was because referring to a person as illegal is objecting. Actions are illegal, not people themselves, she said. She added that using the term undocumented was crucial to avoid belittling or dehumanizing undocumented students.
