Deborah Interviews Bill Ong Hing: America has a Debt to Pay to Mexico

April 11th, 2011 12:43 am MT
Deborah Robinson



America’s relationship to Mexico is often downplayed in the midst of the immigration debate. In the upcoming documentary, Reasonable Suspicion, we explore that relationship as we travel to Mexico City. So, when one of the contributors to my latest book, Legal Briefs on Immigration Reform from 25 of the Top Legal Minds in the Country, decided to write about that relationship, I was anxious to read what he had to say. Professor Bill Ong Hing’s legal brief, Thinking Broadly About Immigration Reform by Addressing Root Causes, hints that perhaps America should look in the mirror when considering the illegal entrance of our neighbors south of the border. Hing is a Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, where he teaches ImmiÂ*gration Law and Policy, EviÂ*dence, Negotiation and Rebellious Lawyering.

Hing’s positions on immigration could be considered rebellious. He advocates for a North American Union that could lead to open labor migration, he supports amnesty for the over 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States and he calls Mexican migrants ‘economic refugees’. One of his most controversial contentions in the legal brief he contributed to the book, is that America should take some responsibility for illegal immigration due to its foreign policies. He goes one step further writing, “There is a good argument that the U.S. has an historical debt to pay for what it has done to the agricultural sector in Mexico.â€