What does this research mean for the field?

Latino/a immigrants and residents have played an essential, central, and often unrecognized leadership role in the U.S. sanctuary movements, and recognizing this shared leadership corrects theological distortions that frame migrants merely as passive recipients of hospitality. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.CONTRADICTORY. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.CHALLENGES_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

Examine the uncredited leadership and agency of Latino/a immigrants and residents within United States sanctuary movements, challenging prevailing narratives of passive victimhood.

August 30, 2026ReligionsOpen Access

God Chose the Despised: Latino/a Immigrants and the Sanctuary Movements

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Authors

ASAlexia SalvatierraFuller Theological Seminary

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Implication

Historical and theological analysis demonstrates central leadership among Latino immigrants in US sanctuary movements, highlighting the necessity of mutual power-sharing over paternalistic charity.

Key Points

Examine the uncredited leadership and agency of Latino/a immigrants and residents within United States sanctuary movements, challenging prevailing narratives of passive victimhood.
Conducted a historical and theological analysis evaluating faith-based sanctuary movements in North America from the 1980s to present day.
Applied a decolonial qualitative methodology integrating scriptural analysis of biblical refuge concepts with forty-five years of personal leadership testimony.
Demonstrated that Latino/a immigrants and residents provide primary leadership and strategic direction in sanctuary movements rather than merely receiving aid.
Identified that conventional theological framings centered exclusively on hospitality reinforce savior complexes and hinder collaborative power-sharing across diverse faith communities.

Cite This Study

Alexia Salvatierra (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a93f0b06c1a8fb52e79cff7 https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17091019

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Implication

Historical and theological analysis demonstrates central leadership among Latino immigrants in US sanctuary movements, highlighting the necessity of mutual power-sharing over paternalistic charity.

God Chose the Despised: Latino/a Immigrants and the Sanctuary Movements

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Cite This Study

God Chose the Despised: Latino/a Immigrants and the Sanctuary Movements

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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