A screenshot of the AP Stylebook's website. (Aaron Liu/Neon Tommy)

The revised entry reads as follows:

illegal immigration Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.

Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegals or undocumented.

Do not describe people as violating immigration laws without attribution.

Specify wherever possible how someone entered the country illegally and from where. Crossed the border? Overstayed a visa? What nationality?

People who were brought into the country as children should not be described as having immigrated illegally. For people granted a temporary right to remain in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, use temporary resident status, with details on the program lower in the story.

The AP cited similar protocols in their stylebook that bar journalists from using labels like "schizophrenic" to describe people afflicted with schizophrenia. In response to the AP's decision, The New York Times announced that it too was considering revising style rules regarding illegal immigration:

The Times, for the past couple of months, has also been considering changes to its stylebook entry on this term and will probably announce them to staff members this week. 

While the AP's decision has barred the phrase "illegal immigrant," it has also advised journalists against using the term "undocumented" -- a term that immigration rights activists and the ACLU have both advocated for as a more appropriate replacement for the word "illegal." As Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explained in a blog post:

The discussions on this topic have been wide-ranging and include many people from many walks of life. (Earlier, they led us to reject descriptions such as “undocumented,” despite ardent support from some quarters, because it is not precise. A person may have plenty of documents, just not the ones required for legal residence.)

At a town hall in Chandler, Ariz., Sen. John McCain also rejected the using the term "undocumented" and told the crowd he would continued using the term "illegal." From The Arizona Republic:

McCain also declined a 25-year-old dreamer’s request to “please drop the i-word” — “illegal” — when referring to undocumented immigrants.

“Someone who crosses our borders illegally is here illegally,” McCain said. “You can call it whatever you want to, but it’s illegal. I think there’s a big difference between someone who does something that’s illegal and someone who’s undocumented. I’ll continue to call it illegal.”

18-year-old Claudia R. and her family came to the U.S. from Sonora, Mexico on a visa that has since expired. Earlier in March, Claudia and others participated in an immigrant rights rally in Boyle Heights where people shared their respective stories about living in the US without permission. 

"It's just unfair that this country treats us like we're not human beings," said Claudia, who has lived in the U.S. since she was a child. 

If Claudia had her way, she would do away with the term "illegal immigrant" and replace it with the word "undocumented."

"No human being is illegal," said Claudia at the rally. "Just because we're from another country doesn't mean we should be dehumanized."

Reach reporter Aaron Liu here.