Unavoidably, the clergy made itself a foe of the government, which argued that no one was above the law and that the sanctuary movement was, at heart, inspired more by politics than by theological imperatives. Movement members were put on trial. In one celebrated 1980s case, eight of them, including Mr. Fife, were convicted of felony conspiracy and other charges. None ended up going to jail, however.Editors’ PicksSome Movies Actually Understand Poverty in AmericaJunk Food Was Our Love LanguageI Don’t Want to Be the Office GrandmaAdvertisementContinue reading the main story

And so it played down widespread human rights outrages by those regimes and affiliated death squads. When Salvadorans and Guatemalans tried to enter the United States, claiming a fear of persecution in their homelands, they typically were labeled “economic migrants,” not political refugees.