U.S. Faith-Based Sanctuary: Possibilities for Understanding ‘Sanctuary’ in New Ways
摘要
Recent debates about U.S. sanctuary policies have interpreted sanctuary localities as encompassing all sanctuary activities. Very few public accounts have distinguished between faith-based sanctuary activism and sanctuary locality ordinances. Because of this definitional blurring, the radical potential of the former is obscured. Sanctuary localities uphold the rule of law over and above extraconstitutional policing of migrants and denial of their refugee status while faith-based sanctuary disrupts these processes, challenges damaging narratives, and alters sovereign practices normally deployed in foreign relations. Faith-based sanctuary more actively disrupts sovereign processes and is not limited by borders. The chapter very briefly explores connections to other activist sanctuary movements. While a political model of the commonalities between faith-based movements in the US and elsewhere would be falsely universalising, the chapter briefly identifies important linkages and common tactics.