Abstract

The Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s arose in response to the failure of the US government and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to provide asylum to the thousands of Central Americans who fled their countries and came to the US under threat of death. It was a political, religious, and humanitarian movement composed of an amalgamation of churches, non-religious organizations, and activists that established a national network of sanctuary churches to assist undocumented Central American refugees. Tucson was a center for such activity and home to a number of notable Sanctuary Movement figures and actions. This essay utilizes the University of Arizona Special Collections’ collection of Sanctuary Movement Trial Papers, as well works by Miriam Davidson and Ann Crittenden to argue that the US government’s prosecution of Sanctuary Movement workers was unjust. These sources revealed that the US government by denying Central American asylum was in direct violation of the 1980 Refugee Act. Furthermore, the US government egregiously mishandled the Sanctuary Movement case and the trial was overseen by an explicitly biased judge. However the US government’s attempt to halt the Sanctuary Movement was unsuccessful, as the movement continued in Tucson and the rest of US for decades to come.

Keywords: Central America, refugees, Sanctuary Movement, asylum, immigration policy, Tucson, Arizona

How to Cite:

Brigham, F., (2025) “Convictions, Communism, and the Cold War: The Sanctuary Movement in the 1980s”, Footnotes: A Journal of History 7, 3-15.