
The Accidental Shooting Of Kathryn Steinle In July Of 2015 By An Undocumented Immigrant Ignited A Firestorm Of Controversy Around Sanctuary Cities, Which Are Municipalities Where Officials Are Prohibited From Inquiring Into The Immigration Status Of Residents. Some Decline Immigration Detainer Requests From U.s. Immigration And Customs Enforcement. While Sanctuary Cities Have Been In Existence Since The 1980s, The Steinle Shooting And The Presidency Of Donald Trump Have Brought Them Renewed Attention And Raised A Number Of Questions. How Have These Policies Evolved Since The 1980s And How Has The Media Framed Them? Do Sanctuary Policies Breed Crime As Some Have Argued, Or Do They Help To Politically Incorporate Immigrant Populations? What Do Americans Think About Sanctuary Cities, And Have Their Attitudes Changed In Recent Years? How Are States Addressing The Conflict Between Sanctuary Cities And The Federal Government? In One Of The First Comprehensive Examinations Of Sanctuary Cities, Loren Collingwood And Benjamin Gonzalez O'brien Show That Sanctuary Policies Have No Discernible Effect On Crime Rates; Rather, Anti-sanctuary State Laws May Undercut Communities' Trust In Law Enforcement. Indeed, Sanctuary Policies Do Have The Potential To Better Incorporate Immigrant Populations Into The Larger City, With Both Latino Police Force Representation And Latino Voter Turnout Increasing As A Result. Despite This, Public Opinion On Sanctuary Cities Remains Sharply Divided And Has Become Intensely Partisanized. Looking At Public Opinion Data, Media Coverage, And The Evolution Of Sanctuary Policies From The 1980s To 2010s, The Authors Show That Conservatives Have Increasingly Drawn On Anecdotal Evidence To Link Violent Crime To The Larger Debate About Undocumented Immigration. This Has, In Turn, Provided Them An Electoral Advantage Among Conservative Voters Who Often See Undocumented Immigrants As A Threat And Has Led To A Push For Anti-sanctuary Policies In Conservative States.
This book investigates the political, social, and legal impacts of sanctuary city policies in the United States to determine whether they correlate with crime rates or immigrant integration. Authors Benjamin Gonzalez O'Brien and Loren Collingwood, both established scholars in political science and public policy, utilize a multi-methodological approach to analyze the evolution of sanctuary policies from the 1980s through the 2010s. By synthesizing public opinion data, media framing analysis, and empirical crime statistics, they challenge common political narratives regarding the safety and societal impact of these municipalities. The authors argue that sanctuary policies serve as tools for political incorporation rather than drivers of criminal activity.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts and political scientists identify this work as a foundational, data-driven resource for understanding the intersection of local governance and federal immigration policy. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous counter-narrative to anecdotal political discourse.
Page Count:
240
Publication Date:
2019-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190937033
ISBN-13:
9780190937034
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