Guest Post: Paloma Velez, Law Student, UC Davis, Call for Change – “Sanctuary City” as an Outdated and Inaccurate Term
In recent years, the term “Sanctuary City” has become a politically charged word. Politicians have inaccurately portrayed Sanctuary Cities as lawless cities. The public has been exposed to many half-truths and falsehoods regarding Sanctuary Cities. As a result, the label “sanctuary city,” has become very misleading.
“Sanctuary cities,” which perhaps seek to provide sanctuary from racial profiling, give the false impression that they nullify immigration laws. “Sanctuary cities” are instead trying to reserve their resources for more effective law enforcement practices.
Why then continue using the label “sanctuary city”? It is a historical relic from a time when “sanctuary” really involved shielding people from detection and detention. It is not an appropriate label for police departments who want to enforce the spirit of the Fourth Amendment in order to improve their law enforcement effectiveness.
Police Departments who do not want to participate in immigration law enforcement should declare themselves a “Fourth Amendment city” instead. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people from unwarranted searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment was a response to abuses of power by local officials who investigated people for importing federally prohibited goods during the American Revolution. Similarly, local police who enforce immigration laws are using their discretion to aid government officials in searching for smuggled people.
Colonial lawyer James Otis famously argued “[this is] a power that places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer. . . .” Similarly, having police officers search for undocumented individuals among the general population has placed the liberty of every person with a foreign appearance at the hands of every police officer. It has resulted in police officers abusing their discretion to stop, detain, and investigate legal residents and U.S. citizens; depriving them of their liberty for up to forty-eight hours.
Thus, localities who choose to declare their local resources unavailable for immigration law enforcement want to reassure their residents that they will not be subject to unwarranted stops and arrests on suspicion that they may be undocumented. The policy essentially serves to re-enforce the spirit of the Fourth Amendment in local law enforcement practices. Thus, it is more accurate for cities to call themselves a “Fourth Amendment city”, rather than a “sanctuary city.”