H.Res. 155: Expressing the necessity for the Members of the House of Representatives to use the term "undocumented" instead of the term "illegal" when referring to foreign nationals which are working in the United States without proper documentation.

H.Res. 155: Expressing the necessity for the Members of the House of Representatives to use the term "undocumented" instead of the term "illegal" when referring to foreign nationals which are working in the United States without proper documentation.

113th Congress · introduced 2013-04-12 · Immigration · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2013-04-12 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Expressing the necessity for the Members of the House of Representatives to use the term "undocumented" instead of the term "illegal" when referring to foreign nationals which are working in the United States without proper documentation.

Plain summary

States that: (1) members of the House of Representatives should no longer use the term "illegal immigrant" because no human being is illegal; (2) human beings need to be central in immigration discussions; and (3) foreign national, undocumented immigrant, unauthorized immigrant, immigrant without papers and immigrant seeking status are examples of terms we can use that do not dehumanize people.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

A Yea supports adopting this resolution.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Expressing the necessity for the Members of the House of Representatives to use the term "undocumented" instead of the term "illegal" when referring to foreign nationals which are working in the United States without proper documentation.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1] · 6 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Marc A. Veasey (D-TX)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Resolution: A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.
Roll-call vote: A vote where each member's position is recorded by name, so the public can see how every member voted. "Yea" means yes, "Nay" means no, "Present" means the member was there but did not take a side.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113hres155.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/hres>

Record fed-us-cong113-hres155 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113