Immigration Subject Headings
In alignment with the SAC Working Group recommendation of 2016, CCS replaced Aliens, Illegal aliens, and related subject headings with the SAC-recommended terms as of June 7, 2021. On November 12, 2021, Library of Congress announced that it would change the Aliens and Illegal aliens related subject headings to Noncitizens and Illegal immigration. CCS will continue to use the SAC-recommended terms approved earlier this year.
Catalogers should update the records by replacing the LCSH terms with the equivalent terms in the chart below. Headings used prior to November 2021 are in the first column. Continue to follow CCS’ local practice and change any subject headings listed in the 1st column (i.e. Illegal aliens, Women illegal aliens, and others) to the CCS replacement heading found in the 3rd column (i.e. Undocumented immigrants, Women undocumented immigrants, and others).
The LCSH headings used after November 2021 are in the second column. One LCSH term, Noncitizens, is the same as the CCS term. So this will not need to be replaced. For all other terms, continue to follow the local practice of replacing the term with the heading in the third column. When other terms using the word Noncitizens, like Children of noncitizens, are in records of items about undocumented immigrants, the LCSH term “Illegal immigration” will also be in the record. When this occurs, replace both terms. For example, "Children of noncitizens" is replaced by "Children of undocumented immigrants" and “Illegal immigration” is replaced by the local heading of “Undocumented immigrants.” If you feel that a term for Immigration should be in the record, you can add the LCSH term "Emigration and immigration."
The CCS headings will be in 650 fields with a second indicator of 0. The authority records have been updated to reflect the change. The Library of Congress Subject Headings are not referenced in the authority records. The Data Services Librarian will regularly query the database for additional records to correct.
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (prior to Nov. 2021) | Library of Congress Subject Headings (Nov. 2021-) | CCS Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Aliens | Noncitizens | Noncitizens |
| Illegal aliens | Illegal immigration | Undocumented immigrants |
| Alien detention centers | Noncitizen detention centers | Immigrant detention centers |
| Children of illegal aliens | Children of noncitizens | Children of undocumented immigrants |
| Illegal alien children | Noncitizen children | Undocumented immigrant children |
| Illegal aliens in literature | Illegal immigration in literature or Noncitizens in literature | Undocumented immigrants in literature |
| Women illegal aliens | Women noncitizens | Women undocumented immigrants |
Spanish Subject Headings
When cataloging an item that requires Spanish subject headings, apply the local heading "Inmigrantes indocumentados" to the record. This is the Spanish translation for Undocumented immigrants. This heading should be placed in a 650 field, with a second indicator of 7 and ‡2 local. Do not use the equivalent terms from the approved Spanish controlled vocabularies.