Catholics and the 1980s U.S. Sanctuary Movement

Abstract

Abstract: Most of the scholarship on the 1980s U.S. Sanctuary Movement in support of Central American asylum seekers has emphasized the role of mainline Protestants in the movement’s birth in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and its spread across the country. This article instead focuses on Catholics’ pivotal role in the movement, which ranged from full support and significant leadership to deep skepticism and overt opposition. It examines sanctuary at both the local and national levels, exploring parish engagement while also assessing debates among clerical leaders on the movement’s legality and whether U.S. Catholics should challenge state power in supporting undocumented asylum seekers. This article illuminates the genealogies of sanctuary that have developed across Catholic, interfaith, and interethnic spaces, demonstrating how they represent one aspect of the Catholic Church’s growing emphasis on Latino immigrant, migrant, and refugee justice.