As President Donald Trump categorically bans people from seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border and cancels flights for incoming refugees, it’s worth recalling this isn’t the first time the federal government has failed the world’s most vulnerable — nor would it be the first time everyday Americans decided to fight back.
In the 1980s, for one, the Reagan administration infamously refused to recognize the plight of Salvadorans and Guatemalans fleeing for their lives to the United States. So 430 religious bodies and more than 70,000 people joined an underground network to build a de facto asylum system of their own.
Alexandra Villarreal
Back then, there was no government directive preventing immigration agents from raiding church grounds to detain the asylum seekers living there. The law establishing a universal right to seek asylum in the U.S. was brand new, while the nation had criminalized “harboring” — or hiding unauthorized immigrants — for much longer.
And the specter of lawsuits or jail time for even the most banal acts of civil disobedience loomed large, with some sanctuary volunteers eventually prosecuted or convicted for “crimes” like transporting asylum seekers from points A to B.
Still, faced with the choice between actively resisting cruelty or abandoning at-risk people to their fate, a justice-minded coalition of religious Americans put their own freedom on the line to do what they believed was right. Together, they pooled their resources, talents and expertise to actualize the Sanctuary Movement, working alongside Salvadorans and Guatemalans under their churches’ protection to challenge the federal government’s clear and shameful violations of its own refugee laws.
“The U.S. urgently needs another coalition of courageous Americans who believe in welcoming the stranger enough to embrace the spirit of sanctuary.”
Four decades later, the U.S. urgently needs another coalition of courageous Americans who believe in welcoming the stranger enough to embrace the spirit of sanctuary.
Once again, despite sounding off on the importance of “law and order,” a president and his advisers have seemingly decided that some laws — specifically, laws protecting our fellow human beings from around the globe — are immaterial in the face of chants to “mass deport” and “build the wall.”
After just a week of Trump 2.0, the U.S.’s refugee resettlement program and infrastructure are largely gone. The right to seek asylum at U.S. borders is dead. Legal programs meant to inform people of their rights and protect unaccompanied children are indefinitely frozen.
Put simply, the immigration system as we knew it already has been radically undone — in one week.
Another development that made headlines last week was the Trump administration’s termination of a long-held “sensitive locations” policy, where immigration agents generally would avoid enforcement actions at places such as hospitals, schools and, perhaps most materially, churches. Before the announcement, churches’ inclusion on this list of no-go zones — even under Trump 1.0 — had made their grounds feel particularly safe, both for immigrants searching for protection from deportation and for the congregations hosting them.
So it’s no surprise the policy change has caused some community trepidation, even among churches that have provided sanctuary in the past. Amid this unease, our country’s elders and the groundwork they’ve laid may be able to provide some answers.
When John Fife announced his Tucson church was defying U.S. laws by providing sanctuary, a moment often touted as the public outset of the 1980s Sanctuary Movement, he effectively dared officials to arrest him for it.
Fife’s take was that the Reagan administration was the one breaking the law with impunity by ignoring the U.S.’s responsibilities to refugees, much as Trump is doing today. And he also likely knew the absolute fiasco that would ensue if news cameras caught immigration agents storming a church to arrest sympathetic asylum-seeking families.
But even as Fife held press conferences and gave interviews, other religious leaders quietly escorted people to safety in the U.S. interior or Canada. They did not need to talk about their work in order to save lives.
“Churches that want to help but worry about violence or retribution can instead take more subtle steps to live their values.”
Today is no different. One of the most beautiful parts of sanctuary is that everyone who genuinely wants a role can find one that fits their strengths. Pastors and parishioners who feel they’re able to be outspoken about their actions — including civil disobedience — to support immigrants and asylum seekers and uphold the U.S.’s refugee law should absolutely shout from the rooftops. Meanwhile, churches that want to help but worry about violence or retribution can instead take more subtle steps to live their values.
In fact, although civil disobedience is at the heart of sanctuary, Americans don’t need to participate in the unlawful aspects of the movement to make a difference. They can fundraise for attorney fees and stand up legal clinics to give people a chance at staying legally. They can help newcomers in the U.S. on temporary protections decide where’s best (safest and most immigrant-friendly) for them to resettle and offer support reaching those locations. They can even step in and help with some of the services the Trump administration has cut off, such as providing orientations for recently arrived refugees on everything from employment opportunities to public transit.
At a time when many immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees already are suffering, what matters most is the desire to do good. Already, the sanctuary volunteers of the 1980s have given us a roadmap.
Now, it’s our turn.
Alexandra Villarreal is a journalist and policy analyst focused on 21st-century humanitarian migration solutions. Her reporting has appeared in Texas Monthly, The Guardian, NBC Latino, the Associated Press and other national and international outlets. As a Graduate Archer Fellow, she had the privilege of working for the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship and recently she handled the National Immigration Forum’s humanitarian relief portfolio.
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