Sanctuary city facts for kids
A sanctuary city means municipal areas, mainly in Western Europe, the United States and Canada. Sanctuary cities in and around those areas limit cooperation with the government's effort to enforce immigration law.
Leaders of sanctuary cities say they wish to cut down fear of deportation and possible family breakups with people who are in a country illegally. That's so that such people may be willing to report a crime and send their children to school.
Some states, such as Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Georgia, Missouri and Florida do not allow sanctuary cities. Others, such as Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois New York, Colorado and California allow sanctuary cities.
In early 2018, a Chicago federal judge said that the Trump administration may not withhold public safety grants to sancutary cities. Those decisions were seen as a setback to the Trump administration efforts for helping authorities police illegal immigrants.
Several different terms have been used to refer to immigrants who come into Europe, Asia, the United States or Australia. Use of the word illegal is going down. For example, the term illegal immigrant may one day be phased out. The term undocumented immigrant will one day take its place.
See also
In Spanish: Ciudad santuario para niños
