Sanctuary Is Justice

This chapter traces the evolution of the Sanctuary Movement from its origins in the early 1980s to its more multifaceted expressions in the first decades of the twenty-first century. The movement that first emerged in the early 1980s came in response to the U.S. proxy wars in Central America and the U.S. government’s subsequent refusal to grant asylum to Central Americans fleeing the region. The author traces the national network of faith and secular communities that gave refuge to Central Americans in violation of U.S. immigration law, as well as the U.S. government’s crackdown on these sanctuary activists; but he also examines the legal tools and strategies activists developed that allowed the movement to survive and expand over the next few decades. By the turn of the twenty-first century, the Sanctuary Movement had developed into a more far-reaching campaign for human rights, economic justice, and peace.