The Inner Workings of a Sanctuary City: During the Trump Administration

Background & Purpose: After four years of restrictive and punitive immigration policies, it is time to revisit the concept of “sanctuary city.” While no official definition exists, sanctuary cities are known for enacting welcoming policies that protect and extend benefits to undocumented immigrants, such as issuing identification cards. But what exactly does this term mean to an undocumented immigrant? More importantly, what did the Trump administration reveal about sanctuary cities when it dismantled DACA and introduced a more punitive version of the public charge rule? This raises another question of how undocumented immigrants experienced and made sense of living in a city that welcomed them while living in a country that was actively trying to deport them and separate them from their families. Drawing on the accounts of 40 undocumented Mexican immigrants living in the city of Chicago, a well-known sanctuary jurisdiction, this study explored what “sanctuary city” meant to undocumented immigrants, the policies they associated with this concept, the decision-making process they engaged in as they decided which programs to participate in and which to avoid to ensure their families’ security in this dynamic environment.

Methods: The study draws on qualitative data collected from January to June of 2019. Using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling, forty undocumented participants were recruited with the assistance of local organizations. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants with different levels of involvement within organizational programs, from new recruits to long-term members. Participants range in ages from 18 to 58, thirty-two of them women, eight men, and 38 of them parents. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted in the participant's preferred language (English and Spanish), and they ranged from 60 minutes to 90 minutes in length. Interviews were transcribed into the original language; the interview occurred and then coded using a grounded theory. The qualitative software used in the coding process was MAXQDA.

Results: Undocumented immigrants continuously experience a transitory sense of belonging and rejection. As they engage in strategic decision-making processes about what programs to participate in or avoid, acquiring documents such as a driver’s license or an ID card did not guarantee recognition or even safety as the power resided with the front-line workers who ultimately accepted or rejected these documents. Nonetheless, social workers played an important role as a bridge between undocumented mothers and safety-net programs. Another important finding was the fear the public charge rule generated among undocumented parents, leading some to remove their children from safety net programs while others remained unsure what to do.

Conclusions & Implications: Even in a sanctuary city, undocumented immigrants continue to navigate invisible borders and boundaries, making strategic decisions to keep themselves and their families safe. With a new president, it is now imperative to assess the impact the Trump administration policies had on undocumented communities, especially the public charge rule. This also raises questions about rebuilding trust, whether immigration policy will continue to be re-forged every four years, and what this means for undocumented immigrants.