Sanctuary Movement Legacies: Forty Years After the 1985 Arizona Sanctuary Trial

In 1985 the federal government indicted sixteen people in Arizona who opened up their churches to provide refuge to undocumented immigrants. Those indicted were participants in the sanctuary movement, an ecumenical network of clergy and lay faithful providing refuge to immigrants fleeing the U.S.-funded Cold War proxy wars in Central America. The ensuing Arizona Sanctuary Trial (1985-1986) garnered national attention and galvanized churches and municipalities into declaring themselves sanctuaries for immigrants who faced deportation. In the intervening decades, activists and institutions have turned to the idea of sanctuary as a tool to resist attacks on immigrant communities. The legacy of sanctuary remains relevant today. In January of 2025 the Trump administration rescinded a policy that limited immigration enforcement at schools, hospitals, and churches, demonstrating the continued relevance of sanctuary. This interdisciplinary roundtable explores attempts to repress the sanctuary movement, its artistic and liturgical expressions, and its ideological divisions.