"Sanctuary city" a nasty phrase to GOP
BY NICOLE GAOUETTE

LOS ANGELES TIMES

November 30, 2007

WASHINGTON - American churches coined the phrase, but among Republican presidential candidates, "sanctuary city" has become a dirty word.

At Wednesday's GOP presidential debate, the issue sparked hard-edged exchanges between two of the leading contenders for the nomination. Mitt Romney accused Rudy Giuliani of running a "sanctuary city" as mayor of New York because of policies that shielded illegal immigrants from being reported to federal authorities. Giuliani disputed that label, and derided the former Massachusetts governor for living in a "sanctuary mansion" where illegal immigrants did contract work.

The spat drew applause and catcalls, reflecting how contentious the issue of illegal immigration has become.

Most of the GOP White House contenders and many conservative activists use the sanctuary term to attack local policies that they believe sanction, and even encourage, illegal immigration. But experts say the phrase means different things in different places. Initially, the idea sprang from humanitarian outreach in the 1980s by churches and immigration support groups that urged U.S. communities to create havens for the victims of civil wars raging in South and Central America.

Most of these cities adopted "don't ask, don't tell" policies, under which city employees, including police officers, were not required to report illegal immigrants. In defending the police aspect of such policies, Giuliani said during the debate: "If we didn't allow illegals to report crimes [without the fear of deportation], a lot of criminals would have gone free."

Others argue that illegal immigrants needed to be protected from criminals who would prey on them without fear they would turn to the police.

Some cities decided not to deny services such as schools or libraries on the basis on immigration status. Others, such as San Francisco and New Haven, Conn., have issued municipal IDs that allow residents, including illegal immigrants, to function within the city.

"There are gradations of different policies, but there's no working definition," said Laureen Laglagaron, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

An upcoming institute study identified 73 cities, spread across 26 states, as sanctuaries. New York is on the list, for allowing illegal immigrants to send their children to school, use the public health system and report crimes without fear of arrest because of their status. Cambridge, Mass., also made the list.

Giuliani, at the debate, charged that Massachusetts had a half-dozen sanctuary cities Romney had not acted against. Romney disputed that.

At one point, Giuliani sought to take Romney to task for what he said was an undeserved "holier-than-thou attitude" about combating illegal immigration.

Romney interrupted. "I'm sorry, immigration is not holier than thou, Mayor. It's the law."

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