sanctuary city

plural sanctuary cities

1. CanadaUSA city that allows undocumented immigrants to live and work without being arrested and deported by local authorities.

   The president is upset with congressional leaders for slow-rolling his core campaign promise, and for failing to defund sanctuary cities in their spending bill.

   2018 March 21, Elaina Plott, “Trump Vents His Anger Over Border-Wall Funding”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2018

   2 more examples

   Regardless of any immediate connections Koch's directive might have had to sanctuary during the 1980s, by the time Congressional representatives were discussing the 1996 immigration reforms, New York City was coming up in policy debates as an example of a sanctuary city that should be targeted for sanctions.

   2012, Randy K. Lippert, Sean Rehaag, Sanctuary Practices in International Perspective, page 227

   Since the late 19th century, when Jane Addams established Hull-House, a social settlement that drew migrants, Chicago has seen itself as an entry point for newcomers, a sanctuary city that welcomes people from the outside.

   2023 May 10, Julie Bosman, “Open-Armed Chicago Feels the Strains of a Migrant Influx”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 May 2023