The spectrum of sanctuary cities in the United States: Contrasting the genesis and practices of proimmigrant local policies


El espectro de ciudades santuario en Estados Unidos: Los contrastes en la génesis y las prácticas de las políticas locales proinmigrantes


https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.1908029

Authors

Keywords:

sanctuary cities, immigration policy, US local immigration

Abstract

The so called sanctuary cities are actually the main source of opposition to anti-immigrant federal policies in the United States. The central argument of this cross case study is that the category of sanctuary agglutinates a set of laws, policies and informal practices of different nature, with varied political genesis and different degrees of insurgency. This article argues that in-deep study of the context framing each different kind of sanctuary city helps to explain the existence of a contrasting spectrum. With the aims to contrast them, three representative categories within the spectrum are analyzed: sanctuary of rhetoric, informal sanctuary, and welcoming sanctuary. This research concludes that the most representative sanctuary practices —the most contestative and with the highest degree of scalability— are linked to the need of the city to defend funding access and to protect its political autonomy; but also, they are linked to the capacity of organized migrants to make alliances with local political stakeholders.

Resumen

Las denominadas ciudades santuario son actualmente la principal fuente de oposición a las políticas federales antiinmigrantes en Estados Unidos. El argumento central de este estudio cross caso, es que la categoría santuario aglutina un conjunto de leyes, políticas y prácticas informales de diferente naturaleza, con génesis políticas variadas y con diferentes grados de insurgencia. Este artículo sostiene que el estudio a profundidad del contexto en el que se enmarca cada tipo de santuario puede explicar la existencia de un espectro tan contrastante. Para diferenciarlas se proponen tres categorías representativas dentro del espectro: los santuarios de retórica, los santuarios de facto y los santuarios de bienvenida. Este estudio concluye que las prácticas santuario más representativas —con mayor insurgencia y grado de escalabilidad— están ligadas a la necesidad de la ciudad de defender su acceso a fondos y proteger su autonomía política; pero también, a la capacidad de los migrantes organizados para hacer alianzas con actores políticos locales.

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Published

2019-07-08

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Author Biography

Estefanía Cruz Lera

Mexican. PhD in Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations from the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona. Teacher and Bachelor of International Studies from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She is currently a full-time researcher (SIJA) at the Centro de Investigaciones sobre América del Norte (CISAN) of the UNAM. Lines of research: incorporation of political minorities and the political system of the United States. Among his recent publications: Cruz, E. (2019). La gobernanza de las migraciones transnacionales china y mexicana hacia Estados Unidos: Los nexos entre la Diáspora y el Estado creativo para el codesarrollo. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, 64(236), 21-48.