Dissertation Research: Sanctuary-Power: Tzeltal-Maya Civic Engagement and Sanctuary City Governance in San Francisco, California

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

Doctoral student Peter Mancina (Vanderbilt University), under the guidance of Dr. Edward Fischer, will undertake research examining the effect of municipal "sanctuary city" policies on the civic participation of undocumented migrants and the exercise of power in American cities. Such policies forbid municipal employees, including police officers, from asking residents for immigration documents or from reporting undocumented residents to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless they have been convicted of a felony. Sanctuary policies have been designed to incorporate undocumented migrants into public safety efforts, to provide them with public services and venues for civic participation with less fear of deportation. The research will be carried out in San Francisco, California. It will focus on the experience of Tzeltal-Maya migrants from Chiapas, Mexico in their interactions with municipal employees and immigrant rights advocates in order to identify the manner in which "sanctuary city" immigration governance functions through interagency, interpersonal, and inter-group relations. By means of participant observation, socio-economic survey, and ethnographic interviews, Mancina will focus on four factors upon which the exercise of power in sanctuary cities depends: 1) sanctuary legislation such the "City of Refuge" ordinance, passed by the city's Board of Supervisors; 2) municipal employee policies for serving undocumented migrants in compliance with sanctuary legislation; 3) migrant conceptions of the municipal government's role in residents' lives and 4) migrant participation in labor, political, social, community, and religious organizations that engage the municipal government for increased access to rights and services. The research will contribute to theories of power in societies where governance depends upon the participation of non-citizens. Findings from the research will also contribute to debates on the effectiveness of pro- and anti-sanctuary immigration control practices at the city, state, and national levels. Funding this research contributes to the training of a graduate student.