by John Hill on APRIL 2, 2013 in BLOG, NEWS, OPINION

George Orwell, welcome to the immigration debate.

The Associated Press, the largest news-gathering outlet in the world, will no longer permit the use of the term "illegal immigrant" by its writers.

The news came in the form of a blog entry authored by Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Tuesday afternoon, explaining that the decision is part of the company's on-going attempt to rid their Stylebook of so-called "labels" – meaning terms which offend politically-correct left-wing activists.

Carroll sat down with a number of "groups" who were "concerned" about their entry on the the term in recent years – meaning pro-amnesty activists. She also noted that the AP prefers to label "behavior" rather than "people," so as not to stigmatize.

But if the AP is so concerned with not stigmatizing those who break our laws by eliminating "labels", then why don't they change a few more labels which may hurt the feelings of other lawbreakers?

For instance, instead of "burglar", perhaps they should use "unauthorized tenant". Instead of "drug dealer" perhaps they should substitute "undocumented pharmacist".

This spectacle is simply pathetic. Essentially, left-wing activists like Jose Antonio Vargas, a former reporter and illegal alien felon, managed to bully the largest news consortium in the world into supporting theirpolitical objectives by forcing this change.

Vargas was the one who outraged millions of Americans at a Senate hearing in February when he scolded Senators by saying: "When you inaccurately call me illegal, you not only dehumanize me, you're offending them," he said. "No human being is illegal."

Vargas and others have been pressuring media outlets for two years to "Drop The I-Word", and getting the AP – whose consortium included 1,400 newspapers – is a huge political win. If they can change our language, they can boost their political objective: blanket amnesty for over 20 million illegal aliens. And the AP just gave activists their biggest win yet in their push for that amnesty.

In 1984, Orwell wrote of a "Ministry of Truth" in the fictional dictatorship of Oceania. The Ministry utilized "Newspeak" to constantly change the language to suit the objectives and propaganda of the tyrannical government.

By adjusting our very language to suit political activists, the AP is acting as an American Ministry of Truth – in this case a mere political pawn in the push for amnesty. Shame on them.