Sanctuary Cities Are Necessary - But For Whom?

Sanctuary. It means to be in the midst of a safe haven where no one can castigate you, criminalize you, harm you. In no other form of media has the word been so emotionally charged than in Charles Laughton's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (indeed, it was the first thing that came to my mind when thinking of the word). 

Please view this 4-minute clip before reading my puny thoughts on the matter of sanctuary cities.




It is ironic that an accused "witch" is given sanctuary, while today's Christian Right is asking to have "Sanctuary Cities" established so that they can practice as much bigotry as possible while excoriating cities that give succor to illegal aliens.

Likening the fight against Obergefell v. Hodges to that of the fight against Dred Scott v. Sandford, Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver wondered aloud on Christian radio last week why there aren’t any “sanctuary cities” that protect people from abortion and gay marriage like they do for “illegal aliens.”

And on the other side of the coin:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, is calling on mayors of sanctuary cities to be arrested as accomplices to the crimes illegal aliens receiving special treatment in their cities commit.

From The Daily Beast:

In the immigration debate, sanctuary cities are unicorns, mermaids, and Bigfoot all wrapped into one. 

Of course, it all started in San Francisco:

The rationale for the policy was that if an illegal immigrant was arrested on a non-immigration offense, and there was no federal warrant, local authorities could use their discretion to decide whether to alert their neighborhood office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

But, in the last 26 years, San Francisco’s sanctuary policy has been repeatedly modified and become less lenient. These days, local law enforcement will hand over to federal immigration agents undocumented immigrants who haven’t even gone before a judge.

So the Christian Right hates mythical sanctuary cities, but loves the idea of actual sanctuary cities for themselves.

Looking at the Hunchback clip again, something is very definitely wrong when it comes to today's idea of sanctuary ... and who should be given sanctuary.