Washington DC - Department of Homeland Security officials have been directed to stop using the term "illegal alien" when referring to people who are not US citizens. The decision marks an effort by the Biden administration to adopt a more welcoming rhetoric toward immigrants.

Incumbent US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) head Tracy Renaud recently signed a memo urging the use of "more inclusive language in the agency's outreach efforts, internal documents and in overall communication with stakeholders, partners and the general public."

Axios first covered the memo on Tuesday, and BuzzFeed News confirmed the reports.

Instead of referring to immigrants as "aliens" or "illegal aliens," officials are now required to use "noncitizens," "undocumented noncitizens," or "undocumented individuals."

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In addition, the term "assimilation" has been called out as racist and should be replaced with "integration."

The new, more inclusive terminology is a sharp shift away from Donald Trump's discriminatory language toward immigrants crossing the southern border of the US.

The Trump administration often called undocumented immigrants "illegal aliens" and deemed border crossing an "invasion."

Biden has signed a set of executive actions aimed at promoting racial equity in the US since taking office.

On his first day in office, Biden signed an order halting the construction of a wall spanning the US-Mexico border. He also recently rescinded the state of national emergency imposed by the Trump administration.