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SAN ANGELO, Texas The Associated Press recently announced a major change in the way it describes people with an unlawful presence in the United States. The AP Stylebook, which spells out the standards most media outlets use, no longer sanctions the terms illegal and illegal immigrant to refer to undocumented people.

Latino and immigrant advocacy groups applauded this move, which they had promoted for years. Many conservatives accused the organization of bowing to political correctness.

But this isnt a question of mere political correctness. Its about accuracy, fairness and respect. The I-word offends immigrants and American values. Illegal is a loaded term that has polluted the immigration debate for too long.

The AP made the right decision because calling a person illegal disregards one of the cornerstones of our justice system, the presumption of innocence. Consider that when journalists report on a child molester or a serial killer, they are always careful to include the word alleged or suspected.

Thats the correct thing to do by law. And the undocumented are entitled to the same protection. Only a judge can determine whether a person is lawfully in the country not a journalist, or even a Department of Homeland Security official.

Bob Dane of the Federation for American Immigration Reform criticized the APs new position. What theyre really doing is interjecting a form of bias in their reporting, he told Fox News Latino. Yet by dropping illegal, the AP encourages better reporting.

One big problem with the term illegal immigrant is that the vast majority of the undocumented are civil not criminal offenders, as being in the country unlawfully is a misdemeanor.

Homeland Security officials told The New York Times that 40 percent of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States didnt enter the country illegally. They entered legally and then overstayed their visas. Undocumented and unauthorized are more precise terms for these immigrants than illegal.

Although the majority of the undocumented came to this country in search of better opportunities, their ranks also include asylum seekers, refugees and victims of traffickers.

Its needlessly hurtful and punitive to tag them all with a negative label such as illegal simply because they lack papers.

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RAUL REYES: AP acts responsibly in nixing the 'I-word'