Warnings from the Birth of the ‘Sanctuary’ Movement
The Central American civil wars of the 1980s that spawned the phenomenon are long over, and it’s past time to put the policies to rest
By Andrew R. Arthur on August 11, 2025
Irecently found an article that appeared in the New York Times two days before Christmas in 1985, when the “sanctuary” city movement was in its nascent stage, headlined “Aid to Aliens Said to Spur Illegal Immigration”. The warnings therein presage the battle increasingly pitting Donald Trump’s DHS against “sanctuary” states and localities — and like the civil wars in Central America that spawned them, it’s time to put sanctuary policies to rest and free ICE to go after alien criminals.
The Center’s “Sanctuary” Map
The Center defines “sanctuary jurisdictions” as:
cities, counties, and states have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE — either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, denying ICE access to interview incarcerated aliens, or otherwise impeding communication or information exchanges between their personnel and federal immigration officers.
That definition accompanies our map that identifies the “cities, counties, and states” with such “laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices”.
That map has become a touchstone — or a flashpoint, depending on your point of view — for policymakers seeking to expand (or restrict) immigration enforcement, and it remains the best single resource for determining which jurisdictions actively impede ICE.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Warnings-Birth-Sanctuary-Movement
