Committee hears mixed testimony on replacing 'alien' with 'noncitizen' in state law

House Bill 2632, which would replace most uses of the term "alien" in state statutes with the term "noncitizen," drew both personal testimony and legal arguments at the State Government and Tribal Relations Committee.

Sponsor Representative Milin Tai (41st Legislative District) described personal refugee experience and urged the committee to adopt language he characterized as more respectful: "These are human we talking about. They are not a nonconform term as alien," he said. (Transcript phrasing corrected for clarity in the article: Tai described the human dignity rationale for replacing the term.)

Supporters including Zaida Rivera (law professor and immigrant), Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Nicholas Mejia (cochairs of an undocumented communities committee), and Lydia Zepeda (League of Women Voters) argued the change preserves statutory function while removing stigmatizing wording. Rivera said calling people "alien" is "ugly" and "otherizes," and Fitzgerald said the specificity of law comes from modifiers, not the noun, so the change would not alter legal standards.

Opponents including Jeanne Magdua and Anthony Mixer warned of administrative costs, potential misalignment with federal immigration statutes, and legal confusion. Magdua noted that "alien" is defined in federal statute (8 U.S.C.) and said changing the noun could create costly updates across many RCW sections and forms.

Committee counsel explained the bill provides exceptions where federal law or funding conditions require the federal term and allows expedited rulemaking for agencies to make grammatical substitutions without changing legal effect.

The hearing featured direct personal testimony about the term’s emotional impact as well as technical legal commentary; members asked clarifying questions but did not take immediate committee action during this session.