State Assemblymember Luz Rivas. | Luz Rivas Website SACRAMENTO – Assemblywoman Luz Rivas’s (D-Arleta) Assembly Bill 1096 was approved by the California Assembly Thurs., May 20, with bipartisan support and will now move on to the State Senate. It is expected that that bill will also pass in the Senate. AB 1096 eliminates the offensive term “alien” from all state codes. The legislation would replace the word “alien” with other language that is more reflective of today’s legal terminology, such a “noncitizen” or “immigrant.” The term “alien” has been used by the federal government since 1798 and in California since 1937. “From the racially motivated shooting in El Paso to the recent rise in hate crimes against our API communities, we’ve seen a deliberate escalation of xenophobia in our society lead to violent attacks,” said Rivas. “The term ‘alien’ has become weaponized and is now used in place of explicitly racial slurs to dehumanize our immigrant communities. The words we say and the language we adopt in our laws matter—this racist term ‘alien’ must be removed from California statute immediately. No person should ever be referred to as an ‘alien’ because they were born outside of the United States.”