On Dec. 17, 2024, the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees reaffirmed Delta College as a Sanctuary campus, yet many students don’t know what this means.
“I’ve had students say, ‘Miss Tina, what is Sanctuary College? What does that mean?’” said Tina Leal, resource specialist at the Dreamers Success Center.
So what does it mean to be a sanctuary?
The idea of sanctuary campuses has roots in the designation of sanctuary cities, according to a 2015 Journal published by ACME: An International Journal of Critical Geographies, “Refuge, Refusal, and Acts of Holy Contagion,” by Jennifer Ridgley.
The first sanctuary city was Berkeley, which established this status in 1971 to protect Navy soldiers who didn’t wish to support the Vietnam War, according to Ridgley.
Berkeley’s model of sanctuary and support was largely based on sanctuary churches that offered shelter, counseling, food and water for conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War.
This model of sanctuary was used later for refugees of war in South America when 22 other American cities established themselves as sanctuaries, and this continues to be the model today for new sanctuary colleges and cities.
Despite this model, there is no one solid definition of a sanctuary, and it is much up to what a city, church or college wishes to protect.
In August, the U.S. The Department of Justice published a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” in the United States, identified as having policies, laws, or regulations that impede enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
“Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi is cited as saying in the news release. “The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.”
The California cities listed are Berkeley, which declared itself a sanctuary in 1971, Los Angeles, which declared itself a sanctuary in 2019 and San Francisco, which declared itself a sanctuary in 1985.
President Donald J. Trump’s April 28 Executive Order, “Protecting Communities from Criminal Aliens,” said these cities “continue to use their authority to violate, obstruct, and defy the enforcement of Federal immigration laws.”
In response to Trump’s executive order, Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency on Oct. 14. A state of emergency, as defined by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, “authorizes the promulgation of orders and regulations necessary to protect life and property.”
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors member Lindsey P. Horvath, in a press release, said, “What’s happening in our communities is an emergency — and Los Angeles County is treating it like one.”
