“We Always Have Been and Always Will Be a Sanctuary City” : Cities as Righteous Actors in the U.S. Civil Sphere
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| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
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| Description | In the face of multiple threats to have federal funding withheld from “sanctuary cities,” many such jurisdictions across the United States have dug in their heels to defend their policies. This demonstration of civil solidarity has strongly echoed throughout the City of San Francisco’s history as a place of sanctuary and non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities. In this chapter, I unpack the ways in which the city is an actor truly “righteous” in regard to its policies on immigrants, working to foster inclusiveness among all its residents in a context of hostility and indifference. I outline the discursive contours of the “narrative battle” between the City of San Francisco and the Trump administration through the disaggregation of three themes – public safety or protection from harm, the idea of prosperity or economic success, and the quintessential civil value, the rule of law, as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. |
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