Brokerage in the sanctuary city: Managing migration at the urban scale

This article examines how cities navigate the contradictions of national immigration enforcement and local commitments to inclusion through the politics of sanctuary. Drawing on comparative ethnographic research in San Francisco (USA), Toronto (Canada), and Sheffield (UK), I develop the concept of sanctuary brokers: actors who mediate between advocacy networks, municipal bureaucracies, and political institutions to sustain fragile sanctuary regimes. The analysis shows that sanctuary is not a fixed policy status but an improvised process of negotiation and articulation. In moments of crisis, sanctuary brokers translate radical demands for migrant rights into forms that urban governments can incorporate, thereby maintaining institutional legitimacy while constraining transformative change. By situating sanctuary politics within the broader dynamics of urban governance, the article contributes to debates on multi-level migration governance, local policy innovation, and the limits of municipal autonomy. It highlights the creative but constrained role of city actors in shaping inclusive practices under conditions of securitization, austerity, and political uncertainty. • Introduces the concept of sanctuary brokers in urban governance • Shows how cities improvise sanctuary through brokerage and articulation • Comparative ethnography of San Francisco, Sheffield, and Toronto • Reveals limits of municipal autonomy under multi-level migration governance • Highlights tensions between inclusion, legitimacy, and structural inequality