President Joe Biden apologized for referring to an "illegal" migrant during his Thursday State of the Union (SOTU) address.
During Biden's speech, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted out "Say her name!" in reference to 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela late last month.
"Lincoln Riley," Biden said, mispronouncing her name. "An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal."
During a Saturday interview with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart, Biden addressed his use of the term during his SOTU address.
"I shouldn't have used 'illegal,'" the president said before correcting himself. "It's 'undocumented.'"
"Look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about on the border was the way he talks about 'vermin,' the way he talks about these people polluting the blood," Biden said of Trump's comments on illegal migrants. "I talked about what I'm not gonna do. ... I'm not gonna treat any of these people with disrespect."
The president went on to say the country was built by illegal immigrants who were responsible for the growth of the American economy.
"We have to control the border in a more orderly flow, but I don't share his view at all," Biden added.
A series of progressive Democratic members of Congress took issue with Biden's use of the term "illegal" following his SOTU address.
"Let me be clear: No human being is illegal," wrote Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Illinois Rep. Chuy Garcia similarly took issue with the term.
"As a proud immigrant, I'm extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the word 'illegal,'" he wrote.
Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro praised much of the content of Biden's speech, though also criticized his use of the term "illegal."
"There was a lot of good in President Biden's speech tonight, but his rhetoric about immigrants was incendiary and wrong," Castro wrote.
"The rhetoric President Biden used tonight was dangerously close to language from Donald Trump that puts a target on the backs of Latinos everywhere," he continued in another post. "Democrats shouldn’t be taking our cues from MAGA extremism."
Efforts to reclassify "illegal" immigrants as "newcomers" or "undocumented" have emerged in recent years in an effort to encourage "inclusive language," per the Department of Homeland Security.
“This change is designed to encourage more inclusive language in the agency’s outreach efforts, internal documents and in overall communication with stakeholders, partners, and the general public,” the department wrote in their 2021 memo. "The guidance does not affect legal, policy or other operational documents, including forms, where using terms (such as applicant, petitioner, etc.) as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act would be the most appropriate."
