By Bella Sullivan
Faith-based communities in the U.S. Sanctuary Movement have historically protected undocumented immigrants from deportation, and will now be remobilizing to counter the Trump administration’s crackdown, a UC Santa Barbara audience has heard.
Amherst College religious studies and Latinx studies professor Lloyd Barba giving a lecture at UC Santa Barbara on the U.S. Sanctuary Movement. Hosted by the Walter H. Capps Center, Barba traced the history of the movement, from its roots to present day, and its ties to Christianity.
“Sanctuary is a place of refuge that is founded upon relentless resistance. It arises when the state has utterly failed vulnerable immigrants,” said Amherst College religious studies and Latinx studies professor Lloyd Barba.
Barba was speaking at an event hosted by UCSB’s Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life earlier this month. He emphasized that sanctuary spaces are more than physical shelters—they are sacred acts of resistance rooted in centuries of religious and moral tradition.
Barba unpacked the impact and importance of the U.S. Sanctuary Movement for immigrants searching for refuge, from its 1980s roots to its modern-day revival, particularly relevant locally as Santa Barbara remains a sanctuary city. His upcoming book, A Refuge of Resistance: A History of the US Sanctuary Movement is currently under contract with Oxford University Press.
“What is it about sacred spaces that have kept immigration officers away from churches?” Barba asked.
Sanctuary refers to a peace tradition founded upon religious principles of offering refuge and mediation for individuals in a legally precarious circumstance. The movement began in Tucson, Arizona in the 1980s, as Central American immigrants fled the civil wars in their home countries of El Salvador and Guatemala. Barba said that during this time, churches declared themselves as sanctuaries, citing moral and scriptural obligations, such as in Matthew 25, to “welcome the stranger.” According to the Department of Homeland Security, as of 2018, more than 560 cities, states and counties considered themselves sanctuaries.
A stained glass window depicting the Christian teaching to “welcome the stranger.” Lloyd Barba, Amherst College religious studies and Latinx studies professor, in his lecture with the UCSB Walter H. Capps Center detailed the religious background of the U.S. Sanctuary Movement, explaining that churches themselves were often sanctuaries for Central American immigrants in the 1980s.
This movement, he argued, is the most confrontational progressive religious social justice movement in the U.S. since the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement. It was most recently revived in 2016, when President Trump was inaugurated to his first term and immigration enforcement policies intensified. Trump deemed sanctuary cities “death traps” in April of 2025, affirming his anti-immigration ideology. Barba foresees the movement taking off again soon, now that Trump’s immigration policies are once again endangering refugees.
Santa Barbara has a history of sanctuary work that officially goes back to in February 1986, when local activists formed BASTA (Basic Aid to Sanctuary and Territorial Asylum), and informally declared the city a sanctuary. Local religious institutions provided protection for immigrants in danger, including the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.
Charla Bregante, director of religious exploration at the Unitarian Society, attended the UCSB lecture to better familiarize herself with the concept of sanctuary, and its local history. The Unitarian Society was a sanctuary congregation in the 1980s, and provided shelter for a refugee family from El Salvador. Bregante looks to the future with concern as immigration becomes further contested in politics.
“In the current political climate, we may be called upon again to provide sanctuary for families. We want to prepare for that,” she said.
Bella Sullivan is a third year Communication student at UCSB. She wrote this article for her Digital Journalism course.