In 2017 California passed Senate Bill 54, which states that local and state law enforcement agencies cannot allocate resources on behalf of federal immigration enforcement agencies or work with immigration enforcement agencies. The bill has been referred to as sanctuary law, the origin of the name comes from a case in berkeley in 1971 that allowed solders to take sanctuary after resiting the Vietnam war according to Global Refugee. Cities that enforce this bill are referred to as sanctuary cities. Four counties and 26 cities have pledged to uphold the law in California, except Fresno. That should not be the case.
I initially thought that it would be to Fresno’s financial benefit to become a sanctuary city, considering that immigrants are employed more within the agricultural field according to ImmigrantFresno.org.
I’ve come to understand that sanctuary cities and immigration reform seek to not address the financial benefit of having more immigrants in the country, but rather help other human beings who want a better life for themselves and their families.
Hannah Livingstone is a fifth-year student Fresno City College student majoring in library technology.
Livingstone goes to a local church that is a sanctuary. She and the church believe that when it comes to helping immigrants and the undocumented, we should simply always help out as much as we can.
“We need to be taking care of the people who are asking us for help and listen. I think that’s a perspective that I have that’s really impacted my thoughts on immigration in general, it is just what we owe to each other,” Livingstone said.
Fresno’s population is 61% Hispanic according to Fresno County, and its undocumented population is 85,000 according to Migration Policy Institute. Eighty-seven percent are from Mexico and the remaining 3% are from India.
Yet some citizens remain fearful of their way of living. Andy Gonzalez is a second-year student majoring in fire technology who commutes from Kerman to go to Fresno City College.
Gonzalez is the son of two immigrant parents and believes that Fresno should be a sanctuary city.
“A lot of immigrant people didn’t feel comfortable being outside anymore. Their fear of just being taken away or having nothing left. Working so hard for years and years, just to be taken away. So I do feel like you’re taking away their safety net,” Gonzalez said.
Residents of Fresno or other non-sanctuary cities would say that most immigrants are criminals, rapists, and drug traffickers. They will point to statistics such as that the Trump administration has arrested over 158,000 “illegal immigrants” in 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit on Jan. 22, against the Trump administration over the ‘Fast Track Deportation Policy’ which allows agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport immigrants without going through the legal process.
The ACLU is a credited and respected. It’s been around for 105 years according to its website.
Considering this, it’s fair to say that the current immigration system is in complete disarray and seems to be only focused on one thing; getting as many immigrants out of the country as fast as possible, regardless of residency status. This is not only legally conflicting, but inhumane and not fair for those who have truly done nothing wrong.
As a kid growing up, I knew someone who did go through all the legal channels to become a citizen. It took them nine years and thousands of dollars. Even then, this current administration makes it so that there is a chance of still being deported.
Sanctuary cities, at the very least, provide some sense of security for immigrants who not only want long-term residency in the U.S. but also because they have nowhere else to go. Those who immigrate do not do it just because they can, they do it because it is likely that their home country is experiencing poverty or war and conflict.
Gonzalez feels that the current administration has been inconsistent with who gets deported and who doesn’t.
“They are catching illegals, like drug smugglers right? They’re getting some but at the same time, they’re like, taking kids and parents away. You see videos all the time. But it could be just how the media portrays it one way, But I do agree that it’s not in the best state right now,” Gonzalez said.
Out of the 158,000 immigrants arrested, 600 are members of Tren de Aragua according to DHS. Tren de Aragua is a transnational gang from Venezuela. I understand that there are criminals who come into this country, however, that is not the majority of people who come into this country. What about the other 157,400 citizens who were arrested? What was their status and situation?
Due process and the legal process are important for situations like immigration because these are people, families and human beings with complex and difficult situations.
Sanctuary cities will not entirely fix this issue. But I believe it is more of a statement rather than a long-term solution. The statement is about reforming the immigration system in the U.S.
Guadalupe Garcia is a counselor at the Dream Center at FCC. The Dream Center aims to create a secure and confidential environment in which migrant students can pursue their educational dreams. They offer support, resources and information to help students.
“Dreamers is a big umbrella. It’s not only undocumented students, it’s students who are on visas, asylum, refugees, even U.S. citizens or permanent residents that are coming from another state or they had lived in another country, and they’re coming back. So it’s broad, the services we provide in the student population we serve,” Garcia said.
On March 25, Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk was arrested by six masked plainclothed agents from the Department of Homeland Security. She had published a story in the school newspaper that was critical of the university’s response to the protests against the war in Gaza.
On May 9, she was released from a Louisiana detention center after U.S. District Judge William Sessions III ruled that she had been unlawfully detained, according to Politico.
So where is the boundary, and what do immigrants do during such uncertain and unpredictable times?
Garcia assures that even in the face of these complex and unpredictable times, students at FCC are still showing up to learn.
“There has definitely been some fear, but they have also come out and spoken up. They know that they have a voice, and they want people to hear them and to know that they’re here for a good reason. You know, not to hurt anyone,” Garcia said.
Paul Gilmore is a professor who teaches history at FCC. Gilmore feels that there is an underlying racist and nationalist attitude when it comes to the belief that immigrants are harmful and dangerous, and this is the reason why some citizens believe we shouldn’t have sanctuary cities or open borders.
“Some people think that Americans are white, Anglo, [German descent] right? And that is what America is, and that Latinos coming in are a threat to America’s identity. That is the issue, and talking about undocumented immigrants is just a way to whip up anger among people, the resentments, the fears that are already there. This is nationalism, a kind of radicalized nationalism,” Gilmore said.
I thought the U.S. was a land of freedom and opportunity, but it seems that only applies to certain individuals as well. I still believe we can achieve this through sanctuary cities and what Gilmore refers to as a symbolic protest of our government. Gilmore feels that this is the first step to national policy changes.
Gilmore also spoke on the financial impacts of being a sanctuary city and said that even though Fresno is not the richest city in California, it should still help and figure it out because it is morally, the right thing to do.
And I agree because, at the end of the day, we are living in a country that has abundant resources in terms of money, food, clean water, medical care and so on. Also, the main point should be expressing our humanity to those who need help, not what the financial repercussions are gonna be.
