Sanctuary Underground: How Faith Defied Law to Shelter Refugees in the 1980s

11 hours ago7 min read3 comments

During the 1980s, a powerful coalition of religious activists in Tucson, Arizona, ignited a national crisis of conscience by establishing the Sanctuary Movement. This was a direct, faith-driven confrontation with U.S. immigration policy, created to protect Central American refugees fleeing death squads and civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador.The U. S.government systematically denied these individuals asylum, labeling them economic migrants despite overwhelming evidence of political persecution. In response, leaders like Reverend John Fife of Southside Presbyterian Church and Quaker activist Jim Corbett spearheaded a clandestine network of churches and synagogues.They justified their actions through a radical reading of religious scripture, constructing a modern Underground Railroad that smuggled refugees across the border, provided them with shelter, and hid them within sympathetic communities nationwide. The movement’s 1982 public declaration of sanctuary was a bold act of civil disobedience, forcing a public debate on morality versus the law.The 1985 federal trial of its leaders, which ended in convictions, backfired by putting government policy on trial and galvanizing public sympathy. From a feminist and social policy standpoint, the movement was a landmark in community-based care, with women forming the operational backbone—managing safe houses, offering medical aid, and providing the essential emotional labor that sustained the network. The legacy of the Sanctuary Movement is dual-edged: it scored a moral victory, influenced later immigration protections like Temporary Protected Status, and remains a potent historical reference point for contemporary border activism, continually challenging the nation to define who is worthy of protection and what it truly means to be a sanctuary.

#Sanctuary Movement

#US-Mexico border

#activism

#religion

#refugees

#1980s

#Tucson

#featured