Clinton Pledges to Stop Saying 'Illegal Immigrants'

Hillary Clinton says the term "illegal immigrants" is no longer part of her vocabulary. In a Facebook chat hosted by Telemundo on Tuesday, she told #WordsMatter activist Jose Antonio Vargas that she will agree to his request to stop using the phrase to describe undocumented immigrants, the AP reports. It is "a poor choice of words," she agreed. "As I've said throughout this campaign, the people at the heart of this issue are children, parents, families, DREAMers. They have names and hopes and dreams that deserve to be respected."

Vargas—a journalist who revealed his undocumented status in 2011—tells Yahoo News that he hopes Clinton will stick to the pledge and that other candidates will join her. He says the term is "offensive and hurtful," and the choice of words matters because "phrases like 'illegals,' 'illegal aliens,' and 'illegal immigrants’ frame the conversation, how politicians talk about the issue, and inevitably how policies are created." Earlier in the Telemundo chat, Clinton accused Donald Trump of "trafficking in prejudice and paranoia" and said "if you look at their policies, most of the other Republican candidates are just Trump without the pizazz or the hair. They don't support a real path to citizenship." (More Hillary Clinton stories.)