The first definition of “sanctuary” is a place of worship; the most holy place in a church or synagogue. At St. Mary’s, we refer to the church proper as the sanctuary made up of two parts, the nave and the altar. Larger churches will designate a part of the church between both as the choir. The term “nave” comes from the word naval because the nave is constructed like the hull of aship upside down.
The second definition of sanctuary is a “place of refuge and protection”, according to Webster’s. With the issue of illegal immigration, many local governments – cities, counties and in some cases, states – have declared that they offer sanctuary to undocumented aliens or non-citizens. Each of these government organizations define what they mean by the term “sanctuary,” but as a rule, by local ordinances, they offer protection from deportation to illegal non-citizens.
Now that we have defined what is meant by “sanctuary city,” there is an interesting development over the past several months with respect to the crisis along our southern border. I say it is a crisis because somewhere between four and five million people have crossed into the United States from the south illegally since President Biden took office 17 months ago, when he undid the solutions the Trump Administration had put in place to stem the tide. It is a crisis to the border states, and especially Texas, which geographically covers half of our nation’s 2200-mile southern border.
It is not a national crisis because the president has not once, in a half century of public office, ever visited the border to see the problem first-hand and talk with the people most affected. Since Biden doesn’t think it’s a problem, neither does the media, which, with few exceptions, avoids the topic. Since Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas has declared the border closed, the matter goes no further.
Texas and Arizona have been left to deal with the problem. The other two border states, New Mexico and California, have much shorter distances to protect and are controlled by President Biden’s party, so they don’t complain … too much.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose state is overwhelmed by this flood of humanity, has decided on several fronts to take matters into his own hands since the Federal government won’t do anything to address the problem. His latest ploy is to bus migrants who have crossed the border illegally into Texas from his state to cities which claim to be sanctuaries for these migrants, first Washington DC, then New York City, and most recently, Chicago. News Break: Philadelphia may be next.
Now this isn’t forced busing like we used to do with school children in the early 1960s. Rather, it is voluntary and at no cost to the migrant. During processing, if they want to go to one of these destinations, then a bus seat is provided and, when full, the bus departs for a sanctuary city. First it was Washington, which made perfect sense to Governor Abbott – if Washington (figuratively) won’t come to the border to see our problem, then we’ll bus the problem to Washington and let them deal with it.
Now the migrant busing plan has expanded to two other cities controlled by the president’s own party, and the mayors are not happy. First, Mayor Bowser, of Washington, called on help from the National Guard, which was denied. Mayor Adams, of New York City, is very unhappy and has suggested sending Democrat activists to Texas to campaign against Governor Abbott. Chicago Mayor Lightfoot has dropped back to the old, tired script and declared Governor Abbott to be a racist.
On an average day, six to eight thousand migrants illegally cross our southern border. Maybe a hundred of these will voluntarily take a bus trip to one of these cities in a very well-appointed motor coach that is paid for by the taxpayers of Texas. I also understand they are accepting donations to help offset the cost of transportation.
When the buses arrive, frustrated mayors are facing problems that Texans are dealing with on a much larger scale. Where do we house these people and feed them? To which schools do we send the children, and how does that impact local budgets? What social services are needed, and how do we pay the bill?
Abbott’s point is huge and well founded in logic – ‘I have a problem and since these cities claim to be a sanctuary for illegal migrants, I’ll just share my problem with them.’ Apparently, Arizona Governor Ducey is now following suit. Perhaps illegal immigration is easier to deal with when it is far away than when it arrives on your doorstep. So many liberal ideas, like sanctuary cities, are easy to resolve in theory, but much more difficult in actual practice.