Humanizing Immigration: How to Transform Our Racist and Unjust System

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"Incisive and compelling, reflecting the painful wisdom and knowledge that Bill Ong Hing has accrued over the course of fifty years..." --Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow First book to argue that immigrant and refugee rights are part of the fight for racial justice; offers a humanitarian approach to reform and abolition. Representing non-citizens caught up in what he calls the immigration and enforcement "meat grinder", Bill Ong Hing witnessed their trauma, arriving at this conclusion- migrants should have the right to free movement across borders-and the right to live free of harassment over immigration status. He cites examples of racial injustices endemic in immigration law and enforcement, from historic courtroom cases to the recent treatment of Haitian migrants. Hing includes histories of Mexican immigration, African migration and the Asian exclusion era, all of which reveal ICE abuse and a history of often forgotten racist immigration laws. While ultimately arguing for the abolishment of ICE, Hing advocates for change now. With fifty years of law practice and litigation, Hing has represented non-citizens -- from gang members to asylum seekers fleeing violence, and from individuals in ICE detention to families at the US southern border seeking refuge. Hing maps out major reforms to the immigration system, making an urgent call for the adoption of a radical, racial justice lens. Readers will understand the root causes of migration and our country's culpability in contributing to those causes.

Reviews

Incisive and compelling, reflecting the painful wisdom and knowledge that Bill Ong Hing has accruedover the course of fifty years representing noncitizens ensnared by our profoundly cruel and unjust immigration system.
Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

Humanizing Immigration is a passionate, clear-eyed, and necessary call for restoring justice and humanity in Americas broken and corrupt immigration system, which has punished and criminalized communities simply seeking a chance to participate in the elusive American dream. Professor Hing uses his lifetime of experience to make a compelling and persuasive case to abolish ICE and to inspire political leaders and organizers to disrupt and reform laws and policies to uplift, instead of demonize, those of us who come from the sh*thole countries.
Wajahat Ali, author of Go Back to Where You Came From

For anyone who has wondered whether or why we should abolish ICE, this book is a must-read. Long-time immigration lawyer and activist Bill Ong Hing clearly lays out how racism, over-policing, over-enforcement, and the cruel absurdities of immigration law lead to wholly unnecessary human tragedies. With his deep knowledge of the intricacies of the law and its implementation, Hing proposes practical steps toward mitigating the worst of ICE abuses while also making a powerful case for the larger goal of abolition and imagining what a just immigration system could look like.
Aviva Chomsky, author of Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal

Once again, Bill Ong Hing has delivered an insightful and damning critique of the US immigration regime, making clear that deep histories of racialized exclusion continue to ensnare law and life in the United States. Woven together with stories from his frontline work as an attorney, this book is a call to action for meaningful immigration reform.
Kelly Lytle Hernndez, author of Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands

An essential read. Bill Ong Hing expertly dissects Americas broken immigration system with authority and aplomb. I trust few people more than him to drive discourse and action around immigrants.
Jose Antonio Vargas, author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

Author Bio

Bill Ong Hing is Professor of Law and Migration Studies at the University of San Francisco, and Professor of Law and Asian American Studies Emeritus, at U.C. Davis. Previously on the law faculties at Stanford University and Golden Gate University, he founded the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco and directs their Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic. Professor Hing teaches Immigration Law & Policy, Migration Studies, Rebellious Lawyering, and Evidence, is the author of six books, and was co-counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court asylum precedent-setting case INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca (1987).