A strong, convincing accusation.
By Bill Ong Hing ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 2023
Hing, a professor of immigration law with five decades of experience, argues that U.S. immigration laws are fundamentally racist and unjust. He provides evidence of their sometimes Kafkaesque, frequently wantonly cruel applications, and looks at five different types of immigration dysfunction. He begins with the detention of minors at the southern border, and the shocking conditions endured by children, some as young as toddlers. He then turns to the deportation of permanent residents for aggravated felony convictions, and the inconsistency of application of prosecutorial discretion. He also examines the difficulties faced by asylum seekers, and the general chaos of the immigration court system. Hing suggests concrete reforms, such as applying reasonable proportionality to the cases of noncitizens accused of crimes. He also calls for the abolition of the immigration system altogether, and for migrants to have the right to free movement across borders and the right to live free of harassment over immigration status. He concludes with a capsule history of U.S. immigration policy’s structural racism, in order to demonstrate the need for transformation of the system to prioritize humanity first.
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9780807008027
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023