A pair of memos from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provide guidance to the respective DHS bureaus on "the preferred use of immigration terminology within the federal government. The Administration’s view is also reflected in the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which President Biden sent to Congress on January 20, 2021."
The memos include this table of Terminology Changes:
| Previous | New |
| Alien | Noncitizen or migrant |
| Alienage | Noncitizenship |
| Unaccompanied alien children | Noncitizen unaccompanied children |
| Undocumented alien | Undocumented noncitizen,undocumented individual, migrant |
| Illegal alien | Undocumented noncitizen, undocumented individual, migrant |
| Assimilation | Integration or civic integration |
| Immigrant assimilation | Immigrant integration |
The memos direct offices to use the preferred terminology in "communications such as agency outreach efforts, internal documents, and overall communications with stakeholders, partners and the general public." However, DHS will continue to use "applicable terms defined in the Immigration Nationality Act in legal or operational documents, including when completing required forms, particularly where legally required or necessary" to ensure procedural rights of the individuals whom DHS encounters.