Jan C. Ting

Jan C. Ting – Life, Career, and Notable Ideas

Explore the life, career, and intellectual contributions of Jan C. Ting (born December 17, 1948) — American law professor, public servant, and former political candidate known for expertise in immigration, taxation, and citizenship law.

Introduction

Jan Ching-an Ting (born December 17, 1948) is an American legal scholar, public policy commentator, and occasional political candidate. For decades he has taught at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, specializing in immigration law, citizenship, national security, and tax law. Ting has also served in public office (notably as Assistant Commissioner in the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) and ventured into electoral politics, including a run for the U.S. Senate in Delaware.

Ting’s career blends academic rigor and public engagement. He is known for offering pragmatic, often controversial perspectives on immigration, national security, and citizenship, bridging theoretical analysis with policy debates.

Early Life and Education

Ting was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to a Chinese immigrant father, Dr. Sik Woo Ting, who entered the U.S. in 1938 for further medical study.

He attended Lowrey High School in Dearborn, Michigan (graduating in 1966) Oberlin College, where he earned a B.A. (major in history) in 1970. Harvard Law School (1975).

These formative academic steps reflect both a bicultural sensibility and rigorous legal grounding, combining regional studies, law, and public policy.

Academic & Professional Career

Temple University Law Faculty

In 1977, Ting joined the Temple University Beasley School of Law faculty, where he taught for decades in areas such as immigration, citizenship, national security, and tax law. Director of the Graduate Tax Program from 1994 to 2001.

His roles included teaching, publishing law review and policy pieces, and testifying before congressional committees. Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) as a senior fellow, contributing on issues of immigration, national security, and China policy.

Government Service

In the early 1990s, Ting served as Assistant Commissioner at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) under the Department of Justice. In that capacity, he was involved in the administration of immigration law during a politically charged era of reform and enforcement.

He has testified before congressional bodies on issues such as immigration policy, border security, and national security. For example, in March 2016 he testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding threats at U.S. borders.

Political Candidacy & Party Affiliation

In 2006, Ting ran as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Delaware. He narrowly won the Republican primary over Michael Protack but was defeated in the general election by incumbent Senator Thomas R. Carper.

His political alignment later shifted. In 2008, after publicly supporting Barack Obama over the Republican ticket (citing disagreements on immigration policy and the Iraq War), Ting effectively left the Republican Party and became independent.

Key Themes & Contributions

Immigration, Citizenship & National Security

One of Ting’s primary intellectual domains is the intersection of immigration, citizenship, and national security. He has written and testified about how immigration laws should balance national security, rule of law, fairness, and enforcement.

His views often emphasize the need for clear legal frameworks, robust enforcement, but also fairness—he sometimes diverges from stricter or symbolic-only views, urging realistic policy grounded in legal principle.

Tax Law & Policy

As director of the graduate tax program at Temple, and as a tax attorney before his academic appointment, Ting has engaged in tax policy and legal scholarship on taxation. His combination of tax law with his other policy interests underscores his interdisciplinary approach to law and public policy.

Public Engagement & Commentary

Ting has often appeared in media outlets (print, radio, television) to comment on legal, immigration, and national security issues.

His style is generally that of a legal realist: he acknowledges constraints, trade-offs, and the complexity of migration and law in an era of globalization and security concerns.

Personality, Character & Influence

Ting is often seen as a bridge figure: someone deeply rooted in legal academia yet unafraid to engage in partisan and public debate. His Chinese-American heritage and background also lend a bicultural perspective to issues of immigration and identity.

He has sometimes been a controversial figure— particularly because of his willingness to question orthodoxy on immigration enforcement and his decision to break from party loyalty in 2008. But those moves highlight a consistency of principle over partisan convenience.

His students, colleagues, and policy audiences see him as rigorous, thoughtful, willing to wrestle with nuance—less a propagandist than a critic grounded in law.

Quotes & Public Statements

While Jan C. Ting is not a widely quoted “quotable” figure in the same way as some public intellectuals, he has made statements that reflect his approach. Here are representative ones or paraphrasings from his testimony and writings:

• In testimony on border security:

  “The adequacy and enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws must reflect both our security needs and our traditions of fairness under law.”

• On party affiliation and principle:

  When confronted by his own party for supporting Obama in 2008, Ting questioned whether he could remain loyal to a party he believed was diverging from core values.

• On immigration policy:

  He has publicly critiqued sweeping or overly symbolic immigration measures, emphasizing that good policy must consider enforcement, feasibility, and legal clarity. (Paraphrase based on his media commentary)

Lessons from Jan C. Ting’s Journey

1. Expertise plus public engagement
   Ting shows how one can balance deep legal scholarship with active participation in policy debates and public testimony.

2. Principle over party
   His decision to break with the Republican Party in 2008 over policy differences underscores a commitment to principle rather than blind loyalty.

3. Wrestling with complexity
   Immigration and national security are narratives fraught with moral, legal, and practical tensions. Ting’s work encourages careful navigation rather than simplistic slogans.

4. Interdisciplinary thinking
   Combining tax law, immigration, national security, and citizenship allows him to see connections across legal domains, rather than treating them in silos.

Conclusion

Jan C. Ting is a distinctive figure in American law and public policy: an academic who has taken his expertise into the public square, a legal realist who refuses to toy with rhetorical extremes, and a scholar whose personal history (as an Asian-American in law) gives him a particular vantage on citizenship and identity. Born in 1948, educated at Oberlin, Hawaiʻi, and Harvard, he has served in government, run for office, and shaped public debate—always anchoring his voice in law, principle, and the challenges of a changing world.