Ep. 7 Part I: The Future of Sanctuary?

What does the future hold for sanctuary in this country? With a renewed anti-immigrant movement taking center stage in American politics, can sanctuary activists articulate a different vision for the country, one that demands that people of all faith and political persuasions ‘welcome the stranger’? In this episode, Barba and González investigate how and why sanctuary remains one of the most important ideas in American politics. They explore recent conservative efforts to destabilize sanctuary cities and congregations, as well as the latest applications of the term by both progressive and reactionary parties. Finally, they discuss what the future of sanctuary - and by extension, the future of faith and politics in immigration justice - could look like beyond the presidential election of 2024. 

Transcripts and Course Packs for Educators: https://linktr.ee/irmceorg

Additional Resources:

• WRAL, Fact check: Did Martha's Vineyard residents have migrants 'deported’?
• EvangelicosForJustice, “Latino Evangelicals Stand with Immigrants / Latinos evangélicos se unen a los inmigrantes”(2023)
• USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, “Sister Norma Pimentel: The Hands and Voice of God for Migrants at the US/Mexico Border” (2023)

Creators

Dr. Lloyd Daniel Barba is an Assistant Professor of Religion and Core Faculty in Latinx and Latin American Studies at Amherst College. He is the author of the award-winning book Sowing the Sacred: Mexican Pentecostal Farmworkers in California (Oxford University Press) and editor of Latin American and US Latino Religions in North America (Bloomsbury). His current research on the Sanctuary Movement includes A Refuge of Resistance: A History of the US Sanctuary Movement (under contract with Oxford University Press) and a volume edited with co-host Sergio González, Sacred Refuge: New Histories of the Sanctuary Movement (under contract with New York University Press).

Dr. Sergio M. González is Assistant Professor of History at Marquette University. He is the author of Strangers No Longer: Latino Belonging and Faith in Twentieth-Century Wisconsin (University of Illinois Press) and Mexicans in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) and the co-editor of Faith and Power: Latino Religious Politics Since 1945 (New York University Press) with Felipe Hinojosa and Maggie Elmore. He is a co-founder and former organizer for the Dane Sanctuary Coalition and is currently completing a co-edited volume with co-host Lloyd Barba, Sacred Refuge: New Histories of the US Sanctuary Movement (under contract with New York University Press).

Funding for this series has been generously provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Additional support was provided by the American Academy of Religion and Amherst College.

Executive Producer: Dr. Bradley Onishi (@bradleyonishi) 

Audio Engineer: Scott Okamoto (@rsokamoto)

Production Assistance: Kari Onishi