Chicago's Sanctuary Policy

Location

SU 218

Department

Political Science

Session

Session 9

Abstract

A “Sanctuary City” is a state or city that provides a safe environment for the undocumented community through noncooperation and nonenforcement of federal anti-immigration policies. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of immigration grassroots organizations in Chicago’s emergence and evolution as a Sanctuary City. It also aims to assess the effectiveness of Chicago’s Sanctuary City ordinances in providing a safe haven for undocumented immigrants. This study poses the following two research questions. What has been the role of grassroots organizations in Chicago’s emergence and evolution as a Sanctuary City? How effective have Chicago’s Sanctuary City ordinances been in providing a safe haven for undocumented immigrants living in the city? A two-part qualitative case study is employed to shed light on Chicago’s history as a Sanctuary City. The first half focuses on the role of local grassroots organizations in Chicago’s emergence and evolution as a Sanctuary City through the examination of local media coverage from the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune. For the second half of this case study this study first turns to in-depth interviews with leaders from several local grassroots immigration organizations. My findings so far for the first part of this study are that grassroots organizations have played a prominent role in fueling Chicago’s policy ordinance. However regardless the achievements of the grassroots movements, Federalism prevents full effectiveness of protection of the undocumented community.

Comments

Mitzi Ramos is the faculty sponsor of this project.

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Apr 19th, 11:20 AM

Chicago's Sanctuary Policy

SU 218

A “Sanctuary City” is a state or city that provides a safe environment for the undocumented community through noncooperation and nonenforcement of federal anti-immigration policies. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of immigration grassroots organizations in Chicago’s emergence and evolution as a Sanctuary City. It also aims to assess the effectiveness of Chicago’s Sanctuary City ordinances in providing a safe haven for undocumented immigrants. This study poses the following two research questions. What has been the role of grassroots organizations in Chicago’s emergence and evolution as a Sanctuary City? How effective have Chicago’s Sanctuary City ordinances been in providing a safe haven for undocumented immigrants living in the city? A two-part qualitative case study is employed to shed light on Chicago’s history as a Sanctuary City. The first half focuses on the role of local grassroots organizations in Chicago’s emergence and evolution as a Sanctuary City through the examination of local media coverage from the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune. For the second half of this case study this study first turns to in-depth interviews with leaders from several local grassroots immigration organizations. My findings so far for the first part of this study are that grassroots organizations have played a prominent role in fueling Chicago’s policy ordinance. However regardless the achievements of the grassroots movements, Federalism prevents full effectiveness of protection of the undocumented community.