Sanctuary Cities: Policies and Practices in International Perspective
| Date | 01 April 2017 |
| Published date | 01 April 2017 |
| Author | Harald Bauder |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12308 |
Sanctuary Cities: Policies and Practices in
International Perspective
Harald Bauder*
ABSTRACT
Sanctuary cities in the USA, UK, and Canada aim to accommodate illegalized migrants and
refugees in their communities. The concept of the “sanctuary city,”however, is highly ambigu-
ous: it refers to a variety of different policies and practices, and focuses on variable popula-
tions in different national contexts. In this article, I examine the international literature to
show how urban sanctuary policies and practices differ between national contexts and assess
whether there are common features of sanctuary cities. I uncover legal, discursive, identity-for-
mative, and scalar aspects of urban sanctuary policies and practices. These aspects assemble in
ways that differ between countries. The article concludes by raising important practical and
theoretical questions about urban sanctuary.
INTRODUCTION
Urban sanctuary practices and policies have received widespread attention among activists, policy-
makers, and scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. These policies and practices generally serve the
purpose of accommodating illegalized migrants and refugees in urban communities. The “sanctuary
city”concept, however, is highly ambiguous. While some commentators critique it for being a
“catch-all phrase”(Chishti and Hipsman, 2015) that refers to a variety of different policies and
practices, others celebrate it by arguing that “Sanctuary City is as much a process as a goal”
(Walia, 2014) that necessarily responds to a diverse range of social and geo-political conditions.
In different national contexts, urban sanctuary focuses on different populations and reacts to dif-
ferent legal and administrative circumstances. For example, while sanctuary cities in Canada and
the USA seek specifically to protect illegalized migrants, in the UK, cities of sanctuary involve a
general commitment to welcoming asylum seekers and refugees. In this article, I present an interna-
tional comparison of sanctuary-city policies and practices to uncover various strategic aspects of
sanctuary cities. These aspects engage in contextualized ways the underlying structures of the
social, political, and legal exclusion of migrants and refugees.
My use of the term “illegalized”migrant –rather than undocumented, unauthorized, irregular, or
non-status migrant –is intended to draw attention to national laws, policies, and practices that deny
migrants full status or legal residency (Bauder, 2014b). The use of this term seems particularly
appropriate for a discussion of sanctuary cities, in which case local authorities, civic groups, and
activists challenge national immigration laws, policies, and practices. In fact, the differences in the
way migrants and refugees are treated at urban and national scales are an important aspect empha-
sized in this article.
* Ryerson University, Toronto
doi: 10.1111/imig.12308
©2016 The Author
International Migration ©2016 IOM
International Migration Vol. 55 (2) 2017
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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