Meet Jan Ting, a professor at Temple University’s School of Law who teaches courses on national security and immigration law.
As professors do, Ting publishes articles focusing on said specializations. For instance, in an article he published on October 23 that was condensed for the NY Times website, Ting writes about the dangers of allowing unchecked immigration. Using a study by the Pew Research Center that states that the US population will grow to 438 million by 2050, an increase of 129 million post-2010, Ting argues that such a rise in population will create an ever-increasing number of problems for the US economy and the environment.
For example, with no mention of the development of alternative, sustainable resources, and the jobs such new industries would generate, Ting asserts the following:
“How will we provide good jobs, good educational opportunities, good health care, and good housing for 129 million additional residents…? How many more millions of barrels of oil will we have to import from the Middle East, or extract from deep-water wells drilled into the ocean floor? How many more millions of tons of coal will have to be burned, or nuclear power plants launched, to generate electricity for another 129 million people?”
Ting then brazenly suggests that we change our legal immigration programs to admit only desirable immigrants:
“We should expand preferences for immigrants holding advanced degrees [….] We should disfavor those with low levels of skills and education [….] We should favor young immigrants […] and we should disfavor the middle-aged and elderly. We should favor immigrants who have demonstrated an ability to learn and work using the English language.”
Sadly, his “solutions” list continues beyond the above.
The list of Professor Ting’s anti-immigrant affiliations appears even longer, though. And a look into his associations reveals the root-origins of his talking points against immigrants. Professor Ting, go figure, is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). CIS produces studies, the results of which are widely disputed, highlighting the negative effects of immigration, and the group is mainstay of the Tanton Network.
CIS has been known to attempt to contribute to the anti-immigrant movement’s presence on college campuses, as well. In 2007, for example, Mark Krikorian, CIS’s executive director, spoke at the Michigan State University chapter of Young Americans for Freedom. MSU-YAF staged a “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day,” “Koran Desecration” competition, and posted “Gays Spread AIDS” fliers across that campus.
Its obvious that the Tanton Network is still trying to use professors and student groups to cultivate a nativist presence on college campuses nationally. As reported on this blog, Youth for Western Civilization is an active anti-immigrant organization, and its honorary chair Tom Tancredo and former members have direct ties to the Tanton Network.
Other professors on the boards of Tanton Network groups or affiliates include:
- Otis Graham, a professor at University of California Santa Barbra who is on the boards of CIS, FAIR, and Social Contract;
- Frank Morris, a visiting professor at University of Texas in Dallas who is on the boards of CIS, Progressive for Immigration Reform, and Alliance for a Sustainable USA;
- Peter Nunez, a professor at University of San Diego who is on the boards CIS, FAIR, and Alliance for a Sustainable USA.
Targeting immigrants is a divide-and-rule strategy that wedges false categories and divisions between us. As a country and as students, we should stop plucking scapegoats for our problems from such vulnerable communities; instead, we should begin to employ innovative, inclusive solutions to America’s immigration complications.