Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government Expression (CHANGE) Act
This bill prohibits any executive agency from using the term alien to refer to an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or national, or illegal alien to refer to such an individual who is unlawfully present in the United States or lacks lawful immigration status. This prohibition does not apply when quoting certain texts.
The bill (1) establishes a uniform definition for the term foreign national when used in acts of Congress and agencies; (2) replaces alien with foreign national in federal government documents, including statutes and regulations; and (3) replaces illegal alien with undocumented foreign national in such documents.
Under the bill, a foreign national is any individual other than an individual (1) who is a citizen of the United States; or (2) though not a citizen of the United States, who owes permanent allegiance to the United States.
| Action Date | Type | Text | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-08-06 | Committee | Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. | House committee actions |
| 2019-07-16 | IntroReferral | Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | House floor actions |
| 2019-07-16 | IntroReferral | Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. | House floor actions |
| 2019-07-16 | IntroReferral | Introduced in House | Library of Congress |