Alert, alert! There's another, different name for illegal aliens.

It’s hard to keep it straight. Illegal aliens—terminology found in legal language—had to go, someone decided. We never know who. But we know why: It hurt someone’s feelings. Even though in the interests of accuracy and transparency, its meaning was perfectly clear.

Then came illegal immigrants. Then undocumented immigrants. Then just immigrants. Or migrants. None of which accurate describe the inundation of people who are illegally entering the United States. It’s a poor effort to make illegal aliens to appear no different than the people who have patiently waited in line to legally enter or become Americans.

No comes a phrase I hadn’t heard before, even though it might have been around for a while: “non-citizen immigrant”. It’s showing up in press releases and stories about press releases. Billionaire wokester public “servants” like Illinois Gov. J.P. Pritzker has used it.

For example, the nimble (i.e. lying) DHS Sec. Mayorkas said: “We are doing everything we can within a broken system to incentivize non-citizens to use lawful pathways, to impose consequences on those who do not, and to reduce irregular migration." [My emphasis]. So, is he talking about people with green cards or students on visas?

It’s exhausting.

Dennis Byrne is a retired Chicago journalist and author.