New terminology The bill would replace the term “alien” in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) with the term “noncitizen.” ADVERTISEMENT According to UC Davis professor Kevin Johnson, the use of the term “alien” helps to reinforce and strengthen nativist sentiment toward new immigrant groups, which in turn influences responses to immigration and human rights issues. He may be right, but should Congress be changing the terms in the INA to ensure that our immigration laws are properly influencing the way people think? George Orwell in his book, 1984, called it “newspeak,” — a new language characterized by the elimination or alteration of certain words for political purposes.