Mayoral leadership, immigrant sanctuary, and multilevel policy dynamics in San Francisco

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyses immigrant sanctuary policies and practices in San Francisco between 1985 and 2018 to theorise about the role of mayors in developing, defending, and adjusting city efforts to shield undocumented immigrants from federal immigration authorities. Drawing on assorted qualitative data, it makes the case that the multilevel context of US immigration policy is an important determinant for how mayors have addressed immigration issues locally. In particular, it highlights two strategies that San Francisco mayors have used to influence sanctuary policies and practices while navigating ongoing intergovernmental scrutiny of the city’s lenient treatment of undocumented immigrants. When the risk of intergovernmental antagonism over city policies and practices was low, mayors adopted facilitative, democratic leadership strategies characterised by collaboration with local governmental and non-governmental actors to strengthen or institutionalise immigrant sanctuary. When the risk of intergovernmental antagonism was high, mayors retreated to executive, less democratic leadership strategies characterised by top-down decision-making and mayoral insulation from local political actors to curtail immigrant sanctuary and protect the city from state or federal attacks. This research illustrates how state and federal interference in city affairs can make it challenging for mayors to govern democratically by collaborating with other local actors.