Drop the I-Word?

There is a new campaign to dump the use of the term 'Illegal Immigrant' or 'Illegal Alien.'  Drop the I-Word (i.e. Illegal) proposes that such is a racial slur.  Here's an introductory bit on the webpage:

Drop the I-Word is a public education campaign powered by immigrants and diverse communities across the country that value human dignity and are working to eradicate the dehumanizing slur "illegals" from everyday use and public discourse. The i-word opens the door to racial profiling and violence and prevents truthful, respectful debate on immigration. No human being is "illegal."

I don't follow how calling someone who broke the immigration law an illegal immigrant is untruthful.  Failing to point that out is a lie of omission.  How about calling them criminal immigrants?  No, we reserve that for the ones who commit additional crimes.  How about going with unlawful immigrant?  Feel better now?

The group doesn't seem interested in changing the immigration laws, just changing the language.  Illegal, though true, gets to the heart of the matter instantly.  It is hard to have sympathy for criminals.  It is much easier to be sympathetic to undocumented immigrants, unauthorized immigrants (I love that one), or NAFTA Refugees.  More word games.  Much like how government now invests tax dollars rather than spend them.  The truth is uncomfortable so let's disguise it with less direct language.

The racial slur makes no sense either.  On the webpage, they have pictures of Asians, blacks, and Hispanics.  Is it a slur against all of them.  No, the page itself seeks to dodge the issue that the vast majority of illegals... unauthorized immigrants are Hispanic.  And the majority of those are Mexican.  The page doesn't spell that out but everyone knows that is the race to be profiled.

Changing the language influences the outcome of the debate.  That is the point here.  The anti-abortion movement calls itself Pro-Life for a reason.  Pro-Choice sounds a heck of a lot better than pro-abortion.  A well-chosen label can obscure the truth, and the truth is that NAFTA refugees broke US Law to get into the country.  Not only are they undocumented, they are here illegally.