Cities of Refuge: Immigration Enforcement, Police, and the Insurgent Genealogies of Citizenship in U.S. Sanctuary Cities

Abstract

This paper explores two trajectories of law and politics that have sought to define the appropriate responsibilities municipal police should have for the enforcement of immigration law. The first section describes how the criminalization of migration has been entrenched into federal law over the past 20 years, opening space for the involvement of local police and other service providers in the practices associated with border control. The second section explores the history of municipal sanctuary policies. These local laws were first introduced in the 1980s to protect the rights of Central America refugees, and now place limitations on the use of local police or resources in the enforcement of immigration law. Focusing on San Francisco's City of Refuge Ordinance, this paper discusses the alternative visions of security and political membership that local actors seek to embed in these laws, and how they challenge the criminalization of migration.