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FE3.8 - Goatwalker: Sanctuary (Part 2)
Episode 82nd June 2021 • Future Ecologies • Future Ecologies
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In the early 1980s, the outbreak of civil war across Central America forced unprecedented numbers of refugees to seek asylum in the United States, putting the recently passed 'Refugee Act' of 1980 to the test. There was just one catch: the Reagan Administration was providing funding to right-wing governments that most of these refugees were fleeing. As a result, Central American refugees making the dangerous journey to the U.S.-Mexico borderlands were being intercepted, denied asylum, and summarily deported.

As this crisis unfolded, a ragtag group of self-proclaimed 'goatherds errant', led by philosopher-turned-rancher Jim Corbett, took it upon themselves to enact U.S. immigration law at the grassroots level. In so doing, they sparked a national movement that continues to the present day, turning the concept of 'civil disobedience' upside-down.

This is the story of the Sanctuary movement – the 2nd part of a 4-part series.

From Future Ecologies, this is Goatwalker, Part Two: Sanctuary.

👉 We suggest you start with Part One of this series 👈

– – –

For musical credits, citations, and more, click here.

Support the show and join our Patreon. We've got bonus episodes, stickers, patches, and a rad discord community.

– – –

As of August 2021, Jim Corbett’s "Goatwalking" has been re-issued in a new 2nd edition. You can purchase a hard copy or an e-book here

A 2nd edition of "Sanctuary for All Life" is also now available from Cascabel Books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Transcripts

Introduction Voiceover:

You're listening to season three of

Introduction Voiceover:

Future Ecologies.

Mendel Skulski:

Hello, and welcome to part two of

Mendel Skulski:

Goatwalker. In the last episode, we met Jim Corbett, a rancher,

Mendel Skulski:

philosopher, and desert survivalist. If you haven't

Mendel Skulski:

already heard it, I strongly suggest you give it a listen.

Mendel Skulski:

Because understanding a bit about Jim will go a long way

Mendel Skulski:

towards understanding the radical social movement he

Mendel Skulski:

helped to spark.

Mendel Skulski:

The story of that movement is the subject of today's episode.

Mendel Skulski:

My co host, Adam will take it from here.

Adam Huggins:

So what comes to mind when you hear the word

Adam Huggins:

sanctuary?

Adam Huggins:

For me, up until just the past few years, the word would have

Adam Huggins:

conjured images of this scene of Quasimodo rescuing Esmerelda in

Adam Huggins:

the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney version, of course.

Adam Huggins:

Sanctuary has almost a medieval feeling as if it's a historical

Adam Huggins:

artifact of a bygone time. But by around 2016, the word

Adam Huggins:

sanctuary had assumed an entirely new meaning, at least

Adam Huggins:

in the United States. At the time, the status of so called

Adam Huggins:

sanctuary cities was getting a lot of press. driven by a former

Adam Huggins:

reality TV show star turned politician.

Donald Trump:

We will end the sanctuary cities that have

Donald Trump:

resulted in so many needless deaths.

Adam Huggins:

If this somehow flew under your radar, sanctuary

Adam Huggins:

cities are basically jurisdictions that pledged to

Adam Huggins:

offer municipal services and conducts law enforcement without

Adam Huggins:

cooperating with immigration enforcement. Meaning,

Adam Huggins:

theoretically, that if you were living in a sanctuary

Adam Huggins:

jurisdiction in the United States without legal status, you

Adam Huggins:

could still access housing or legal services and interact with

Adam Huggins:

law enforcement without fear of deportation. By 2018, over 500

Adam Huggins:

US jurisdictions had adopted some kind of sanctuary policy.

Adam Huggins:

The Trump administration made several attempts to fulfill a

Adam Huggins:

campaign promise to withhold federal funding from these self

Adam Huggins:

identified sanctuary cities. But like most things the Trump

Adam Huggins:

administration tried to do. Their attempts to cut this

Adam Huggins:

federal funding got bogged down in the courts and eventually

Adam Huggins:

blocked, in whole or in part, depending on the provision.

Adam Huggins:

Underneath all of this noise, you might be wondering how this

Adam Huggins:

idea of sanctuary made the jump from the Abbey's of medieval

Adam Huggins:

Europe to the supercharged rhetoric of US immigration

Adam Huggins:

policy sanctuary

Donald Trump:

For these criminal illegal aliens.

Adam Huggins:

Thankfully, for nearly every question like this

Adam Huggins:

nowadays, someone has produced a podcast to answer it. And in

Adam Huggins:

2017, producer Delaney Hall of the podcast 99%, Invisible,

Adam Huggins:

released a two part series profiling something called the

Adam Huggins:

Sanctuary Movement, and organizing network of churches

Adam Huggins:

and civil society groups that formed in the 1980s to help

Adam Huggins:

refugees from Central America evade US immigration

Adam Huggins:

authorities. The series focused specifically on the church state

Adam Huggins:

issues this movement raised, and on the eventual trial of its

Adam Huggins:

leadership, chief among whom were John Fife, and Jim Corbett.

Adam Huggins:

The 99% Invisible series puts the spotlight on John, which

Adam Huggins:

makes sense, he remains a powerful voice in defense of

Adam Huggins:

migrant rights. And of the two men, he's the one who's still

Adam Huggins:

able to sit for an interview. But for me, this has the

Adam Huggins:

unintentional effect of downplaying Jim's foundational

Adam Huggins:

role in the movement. In fact, when Jim suddenly started

Adam Huggins:

relating his experiences as part of the Sanctuary Movement, about

Adam Huggins:

halfway through Goatwalking, his first book, I actually had to go

Adam Huggins:

back and listen to the 99% Invisible story to see if he was

Adam Huggins:

in there at all – because if he was, it hadn't really left an

Adam Huggins:

impression. It turns out they had included him, but I could be

Adam Huggins:

forgiven for forgetting, other than some details surrounding

Adam Huggins:

the decision to declare sanctuary and the trial. This is

Adam Huggins:

how producer Delaney Hall summed Jim up at the time.

Delaney Hall:

Jim Corbett died in 2001. But back in the 80s, he

Delaney Hall:

lived on the edge of Tucson, he raised goats, and he knew a lot

Delaney Hall:

about philosophy. He was also a Quaker.

Adam Huggins:

Now, don't get me wrong. She definitely had Jim

Adam Huggins:

pegged. He did raise goats and was a Quaker and he knew a lot

Adam Huggins:

about philosophy. The series is excellent. I highly recommend

Adam Huggins:

listening to it and I think she made the right call and not

Adam Huggins:

getting too deep into the weeds with Jim.

Adam Huggins:

But on this podcast, getting into the weeds is what we're all

Adam Huggins:

about. And in my estimation, Jim's philosophy and his goat

Adam Huggins:

walking aren't incidental to the story of the Sanctuary Movement.

Adam Huggins:

They're essential, and they prefigure everything that

Adam Huggins:

follows. All of his life, Jim had been tilting at windmills,

Adam Huggins:

seeking opportunities to live out his philosophy of errantry

Adam Huggins:

and nonviolence in practice. And in the early 1980s, Jim finally

Adam Huggins:

picked a windmill that turned out to be a lightning rod. All

Adam Huggins:

it took was a chance encounter. From Future Ecologies, this is

Goatwalker, part two:

Sanctuary.

Goatwalker, part two:

The origin story of the Sanctuary Movement in the United

Goatwalker, part two:

States might begin with a small goat milking cooperative that

Goatwalker, part two:

Jim Corbett had brought together in the early 1980s. Jim and his

Goatwalker, part two:

wife, Pat, we're living in Tucson, Arizona, and Ann

Goatwalker, part two:

Russell, the Quaker student who went on a goatwalk with Jim in

Goatwalker, part two:

the 1970s happened to be attending the University of

Goatwalker, part two:

Arizona at the time.

Ann Russell:

I started my master's degree, and they were

Ann Russell:

living close by. And so I started to go over because I

Ann Russell:

missed the goats and I missed Jim, and I would go over and

Ann Russell:

milk in the morning, and he would make oatmeal. And the

Ann Russell:

three of us would have breakfast,

Adam Huggins:

Ann was working in the department of plant

Adam Huggins:

pathology when she met Tom Orum. And it didn't take long for her

Adam Huggins:

to introduce Tom to Jim and the goats.

Ann Russell:

And so he started coming over and the group

Ann Russell:

started getting bigger and then it was a goat co-op.

Adam Huggins:

The members of the goat co-op jokingly referred to

Adam Huggins:

themselves as Los Cabreros Andantes.

Ann Russell:

Jim read Don Quixote, he saw himself as Don

Ann Russell:

Quixote, and in Spanish, a knight errant, which was what

Ann Russell:

Don Quixote was – in Spanish, that's Caballeros Andante. So we

Ann Russell:

were Cabreros Andantes – Cabrero being goat herd, and Caballero

Ann Russell:

being gentlemen,

Adam Huggins:

These self-proclaimed "goat herders

Adam Huggins:

errant" would meet regularly to schedule milking slots, and the

Adam Huggins:

chance encounter I've alluded to occurred on the evening of May

Adam Huggins:

4, 1981. At one of those meetings, Tom Orum was there and

Adam Huggins:

he remembers the night well,

Tom Orum:

We were having a goat group meeting – Los Cabreros

Tom Orum:

Andantes. We were passing the signup sheet around, and this

Tom Orum:

guy who was connected with our Baja project,

Adam Huggins:

a Quaker named James Dudley.

Tom Orum:

He was driving a van up from Sonora, and picked up a

Tom Orum:

Salvadoran guy and came into goat group meeting and described

Tom Orum:

what had happened.

Adam Huggins:

Dudley had been driving from the border town of

Adam Huggins:

Nogales north to Tucson, and had picked up a hitchhiker from the

Adam Huggins:

small Central American country of El Salvador. Almost

Adam Huggins:

immediately, they reached a border checkpoint, and border

Adam Huggins:

patrol agents seized the Salvadoran, who had no papers

Border Patrol Agent:

[unitelligible] a high area for us, that's why

Border Patrol Agent:

we're pulling almost everybody over.

Adam Huggins:

And that was that. Dudley kept driving, stopped by

Adam Huggins:

the meeting, and told the story to the group. At the time, it

Adam Huggins:

seemed like it could have been an isolated incident. But Jim

Adam Huggins:

took it seriously.

Tom Orum:

Well, it was like serious, but it didn't get real

Tom Orum:

serious until Jim woke up the next morning and decided to go

Tom Orum:

down and find the guy down in Nogales.

Adam Huggins:

Jim was determined to speak with the Salvadoran,

Adam Huggins:

who was being held in custody by the I N S, or the Immigration

Adam Huggins:

and Naturalization Service. This was before it was subsumed

Adam Huggins:

within the Department of Homeland Security, post 9/11. To

Adam Huggins:

figure out where the man was, Jim started making cold calls.

Adam Huggins:

And he quickly realized that nobody in the INS or Border

Adam Huggins:

Patrol was going to give him any information. He was able to

Adam Huggins:

reach a local aid organization, and he was given a form called a

Adam Huggins:

G 28 that the Salvadoran could fill out in order to seek legal

Adam Huggins:

assistance. But first, he'd actually have to find the man.

Adam Huggins:

Then, an idea came to him. By coincidence, Jim shared both

Adam Huggins:

first and last names with a former mayor of the city of

Adam Huggins:

Tucson. And so he called the IRS back and with his best, most

Adam Huggins:

commanding voice, he declared himself to be "Jim Corbett", and

Adam Huggins:

demanded information on the location of the Salvadoran. And

Adam Huggins:

he got it. They'd taken the man to the Santa Cruz County Jail in

Adam Huggins:

Nogales on the border to await deportation. Jim went down there

Adam Huggins:

that very afternoon. When he arrived at the jail and

Adam Huggins:

requested to see the Salvadoran, they set him up with another

Adam Huggins:

prisoner who wasn't the man in question. And once he realized

Adam Huggins:

this, they sat him in the waiting room, and they made him

Adam Huggins:

wait. Finally, when Jim became frustrated and demanded at last

Adam Huggins:

to see the man he'd come to see, the guard said that he was gone.

Adam Huggins:

While they'd kept him waiting, they'd taken the Salvadoran and

Adam Huggins:

shipped him off to El Centro prison in California.

Unknown:

And that just really hooked Jim. If they hadn't

Unknown:

tricked him and just let him talk to the guy, who knows? But

Unknown:

being tricked was – really set the tone for oh my gosh, this is

Unknown:

not right.

Ann Russell:

That's how it started with him was he met a

Ann Russell:

guy who was taken away, and he had to find out what happened to

Ann Russell:

him. So it was like one person, he met a person and then had to

Ann Russell:

look for him. And then that's the thing about Jim, everything

Ann Russell:

has a logical next step. And you follow it even though it may not

Ann Russell:

be comfortable, and it may take you places that people tell you

Ann Russell:

you can't go.

Adam Huggins:

At this point, I think it's important to note

Adam Huggins:

that in the 1970s, the border just wasn't as militarized as it

Adam Huggins:

is today. Movement was much more fluid between Mexico and the

Adam Huggins:

United States, and a certain amount of permeability was seen

Adam Huggins:

as socially and economically advantageous for border

Adam Huggins:

communities. But in 1980, 2 things happened that set the

Adam Huggins:

stage for Jim's chance encounter. The first was the

Adam Huggins:

outbreak of civil war across Central America. In 1979, the

Adam Huggins:

Sandinistas, a revolutionary leftist Socialist Party,

Adam Huggins:

overthrew the government of Nicaragua.

News Announcer:

Despite everything the government forces

News Announcer:

have thrown at them, their morale is high. And when the

News Announcer:

guns stopped firing for a moment, their chant is a

News Announcer:

victory.

Sandinistas:

[Chanting]

Adam Huggins:

military leaders in El Salvador, fearing similar

Adam Huggins:

movements in their own country, instigated a coup d'etat a

Adam Huggins:

couple of months later,

:

This kind of butchery, which is generally the

:

activity of those on the right wing in this country, is the

:

sort of thing which can be found on any roadside throughout El

:

Salvador at this time.

Adam Huggins:

Meanwhile, a civil war that had been ongoing since

Adam Huggins:

the 1960s in Guatemala was flaring up. And the military

Adam Huggins:

government in Honduras was waging its own dirty war against

Adam Huggins:

leftist groups. The Reagan administration in the United

Adam Huggins:

States openly supported these right wing military governments

Adam Huggins:

– viewing them as friendly to US foreign policy interests, and as

Adam Huggins:

a bulwark against so-called communism in the region.

:

Below in the yard of the police station,

:

heavily armed police returned from making their rounds. There

:

are countless instances of deaths and disappearances, in

:

which they have been found to have played a role. Yet, they

:

are armed with NATO weaponry, which the United States is

:

continuing to supply.

Adam Huggins:

We now know that the CIA was covertly funding and

Adam Huggins:

arming death squads, and other right wing paramilitary groups

Adam Huggins:

throughout Central America, the most infamous of which were

Adam Huggins:

Battalion 316 in Honduras and the Contras in Nicaragua, the

Adam Huggins:

namesake of the eventual Iran-Contra scandal. This

Adam Huggins:

history is complex and multifaceted. But the end result

Adam Huggins:

was the violent displacement of millions of Central Americans in

Adam Huggins:

the 1980s. Due to civil war, US backed death squads, and

Adam Huggins:

government campaigns of terror aimed at political dissidents

Adam Huggins:

and indigenous peoples. And so, in 1981, refugees from Central

Adam Huggins:

America started arriving in the US-Mexico Borderlands: seeking

Adam Huggins:

asylum and foreshadowing the 10s and 100s of thousands to come.

Adam Huggins:

The second thing that happened was the passage in 1980 of the

Adam Huggins:

Refugee Act in the United States. This law, shepherded by

Adam Huggins:

outgoing President Jimmy Carter, brought US immigration law into

Adam Huggins:

alignment with international human rights standards: more

Adam Huggins:

than doubling the number of refugees that the United States

Adam Huggins:

would admit each year, and establishing a well-founded fear

Adam Huggins:

of persecution as the standard by which to judge asylum

Adam Huggins:

applicants. This legislation expanded eligibility for many

Adam Huggins:

refugees and asylum seekers, but unfortunately, was not immune

Adam Huggins:

from the politics of the day.

Adam Huggins:

Under the newly-elected Reagan Administration, refugees from

Adam Huggins:

countries that the US considered adversaries, such as Cuba and

Adam Huggins:

Iran, were accepted and naturalized in large numbers

Adam Huggins:

thanks to the Refugee Act. On the other hand, the Reagan

Adam Huggins:

Administration's overt support for the right wing governments

Adam Huggins:

of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, meant that It refused

Adam Huggins:

to acknowledge the atrocities committed by those governments

Adam Huggins:

against their own citizens.

Adam Huggins:

By extension, throughout the 1980s, nearly all asylum seekers

Adam Huggins:

from Central America were considered by the Reagan era ins

Adam Huggins:

to be, quote unquote, economic migrants, regardless of their

Adam Huggins:

well-founded fear of persecution. In 1981, a refugee

Adam Huggins:

from Cuba would find the door wide open under Reagan's INS.

Adam Huggins:

But the Salvadoran that Jim was trying to locate, didn't have a

Adam Huggins:

chance in hell.

Adam Huggins:

Jim would drive all the way to El Centro present in California

Adam Huggins:

to try to help the Salvadoran refugee to no avail. That's a

Adam Huggins:

story in and of itself. But while Jim is out there, I'm

Adam Huggins:

going to take a moment to give John Fife, the pastor I spoke to

Adam Huggins:

in the last episode, a proper introduction. Because if Jim was

Adam Huggins:

the spark that ignited the Sanctuary Movement, John would

Adam Huggins:

provide the hearth that sustained it.

John Fife:

My name is John Fife. I grew up in the mountains of

John Fife:

southwestern Pennsylvania, near West Virginia, and small town,

John Fife:

rural farm life was my heritage.

Adam Huggins:

John wanted to be a pastor. So he enrolled in

Adam Huggins:

seminary, and when he started looking for internships, he got

Adam Huggins:

a call from a man from Tucson, Arizona.

John Fife:

And he says "we have an internship out here and got

John Fife:

your name and wondered if you'd be interested in". I said "well,

John Fife:

tell me a little bit about that." And he did the job

John Fife:

description and a little bit about the desert in the border.

John Fife:

And, and he said "Do you have any questions?" And I said,

John Fife:

"Yeah, I got to what's an Indian? And what's a

John Fife:

reservation?" And he went, "Oh," and I said "well you need to

John Fife:

know, I'm from Western Pennsylvania. I don't know

John Fife:

anything about the Southwest. I've never been in the

John Fife:

southwest. I don't know anything about Native Americans." And

John Fife:

there's a kind of long silence. And he says "well, church has

John Fife:

done a lot of damage to Native Americans over the years, you

John Fife:

probably can't do too much more in three months once you come

John Fife:

out." And so I said "I'd love to, if that's if we understand

John Fife:

each other."

Adam Huggins:

John left the mountains of southwestern

Adam Huggins:

Pennsylvania for the Borderlands of southwestern Arizona, and

Adam Huggins:

never looked back.

John Fife:

The Sonoran Desert was a wonder and the border and

John Fife:

the multicultural context of Native Americans and Latinos and

John Fife:

African Americans and gringos all in here in the border

John Fife:

region. All of the advantages of that kind of multicultural

John Fife:

context and multi ecological context from the tops of the

John Fife:

mountains to the Sonoran Desert. And so I just couldn't believe

John Fife:

there was a place like this and my wife and I moved out here

John Fife:

after I finished graduate school and stayed since 1969. Yeah, I

John Fife:

love it.

Adam Huggins:

Before long, john would become the pastor for

Adam Huggins:

Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson.

John Fife:

This church is located in the oldest and

John Fife:

poorest barrio in Tucson, and it had a history of beginning as a

John Fife:

Native American congregation in the Native American village

John Fife:

outside the south of the city of Tucson because Native Americans

John Fife:

weren't allowed to live in the city of Tucson, and then is the

John Fife:

city grew around here and it became a Mexican American and

John Fife:

Native American barrio, the congregation became

John Fife:

multicultural and bilingual or trilingual.

Adam Huggins:

By the time that John arrived, a once thriving

Adam Huggins:

congregation was now struggling to sustain itself and was at

Adam Huggins:

threat of being closed by the Presbyteriat. Under John's

Adam Huggins:

leadership, though, the church grew strong again, supported by

Adam Huggins:

this multi ethnic, multi lingual community. And then came 1988.

Archbishop Oscar Romero:

[Archival speech in Spanish]

Adam Huggins:

In March of 1980, the Archbishop Oscar Romero was

Adam Huggins:

assassinated in El Salvador by a US-backed death squad for

Adam Huggins:

speaking out against military violence.

Archbishop Oscar Romero:

[Spanish continues, followed by applause]

Adam Huggins:

His death was the most high profile in a series of

Adam Huggins:

attacks against Christian priests and nuns across Central

Adam Huggins:

America. And the event galvanized John Fife and his

Adam Huggins:

congregation at Southside

John Fife:

And so we started weekly prayer vigils in front of

John Fife:

the Federal Building, and guess who showed up – Jim Corbett – at

John Fife:

some point at those weekly prayer vigils saying "I just had

John Fife:

an experience with a refugee young man from El Salvador that

John Fife:

I tried to help and was unable to because the Border Patrol

John Fife:

moved him to a detention center in California, and I wasn't able

John Fife:

to prevent his deportation like I'd hoped to." So Jim was

John Fife:

essential right from that point on. He actually talked to the

John Fife:

head of the Immigration Service here in Tucson, and reached an

John Fife:

agreement with him that if we would take in voluntarily

John Fife:

Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees who wanted to apply for

John Fife:

political asylum, he would not detain them, he released them to

John Fife:

our custody.

Adam Huggins:

At first, Jim worked with a small women led

Adam Huggins:

organization called Manzo Area Council in Tucson, to try to

Adam Huggins:

render aid to refugees through legal channels. But because of

Adam Huggins:

his experiences with how law enforcement treated migrants,

Adam Huggins:

Jim was cautious.

Jim Corbett:

So I was apprehensive because I didn't

Jim Corbett:

trust him. I, you know, I'd been to El Centro and I knew how they

Jim Corbett:

operated. But it seemed to us the best option for most of the

Jim Corbett:

refugees to file for asylum, as long as they were reasonably

Jim Corbett:

sure of getting two or three years, in terms of appeals.

Miriam Davidson:

It was more of the time – buying time than the

Miriam Davidson:

idea that they would get it?

Jim Corbett:

Yeah we knew they wouldn't get and that had

Jim Corbett:

already been established that the Reagan administration was

Jim Corbett:

not going to give Salvadorans asylum. But the thing was that

Jim Corbett:

this would allow people to be out in the open, move around at

Jim Corbett:

will and not risk being simply grabbed and deported anymore. At

Jim Corbett:

least not risk it in the same way others would.

Adam Huggins:

Jim negotiated an arrangement with an officer at

Adam Huggins:

the local Immigration Service, he would bring in refugees and

Adam Huggins:

the proper paperwork. And they would begin processing the

Adam Huggins:

asylum claim and let the refugees go on conditional

Adam Huggins:

status.

Jim Corbett:

Sit down and wait your turn. And then eventually

Jim Corbett:

they call you up and you present the person and the I 589. And

Jim Corbett:

they look through it and give you a little receipt.

Adam Huggins:

And then one day, when Jim brought in several men

Adam Huggins:

seeking refugee status, this arrangement seemed to fall

Adam Huggins:

apart. After making Jim wait longer than usual, that same

Adam Huggins:

immigration officer came out and said

Jim Corbett:

"We're gonna go downstairs to investigations and

Jim Corbett:

Miriam Davidson:

Did he tell you right there that he was going to

Miriam Davidson:

arrest them or...

Jim Corbett:

He said we're gonna make an inquiry. At any rate, it

Jim Corbett:

was clear that things were going sour.

Adam Huggins:

They took the men that Jim had brought with him

Adam Huggins:

into custody. All parties agree upon that point. The reasons for

Adam Huggins:

this are disputed, though, according to the INS, it was

Adam Huggins:

because the men had criminal records. However, Jim recalls

Adam Huggins:

the decision being wholly unjustified.

Jim Corbett:

At no point did he give that as a reason for having

Jim Corbett:

done this.

Adam Huggins:

In Jim's mind, the US government had already

Adam Huggins:

declared war on Central American refugees. But this, this was the

Adam Huggins:

moment when it also cut off any legal pathway for US citizens to

Adam Huggins:

try to help them

Jim Corbett:

And made it fairly clear that this was a position

Jim Corbett:

that we could expect in the future as well for the people we

Jim Corbett:

brought in.

John Fife:

And Jim came to me at that point, and said, "John, I

John Fife:

don't think we have any choice under the circumstances except

John Fife:

to start smuggling refugees safely across the border. So

John Fife:

they're not caught by Border Patrol or immigration

John Fife:

authorities." And I basically said, "really, how do you figure

John Fife:

that Jim?" And his rationale was compelling. He said, "look at

John Fife:

two moments in history." He said, "The first is the

John Fife:

abolition movement, when some people of faith helped runaway

John Fife:

slaves cross state lines safely, without being captured, and then

John Fife:

formed an underground railroad to move them to safer and safer

John Fife:

places, so they wouldn't be captured under The Fugitive

John Fife:

Slave Act and return to slavery." And he said, "as we

John Fife:

read history, those folks got it right. They were faithful."

John Fife:

And then he pointed to almost the complete failure of the

John Fife:

church in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. To protect Jewish

John Fife:

refugees who were fleeing the Holocaust, crossing national

John Fife:

borders, without documents – being captured as illegal

John Fife:

aliens, and returned to the tender mercies of the Holocaust.

John Fife:

And he said to me, "that's one of the most tragic failures of

John Fife:

faith of the church in history." And I said, "Well, yeah, that's

John Fife:

how I read history." And his response. He looked me right in

John Fife:

the eye and said, "I don't think we can allow that to happen on

John Fife:

our border in our time". And after some sleepless nights, I

John Fife:

went back to him and said, "Yeah, you're right. I, I cannot

John Fife:

claim to be a person of faith, or even a pastor of a faith

John Fife:

community. If I tell you no, I, of course, you're right. We have

John Fife:

to do this."

Adam Huggins:

Beginning in the summer of 1981, Jim Corbett

Adam Huggins:

undertook the first of what would become hundreds of risky

Adam Huggins:

trips to the border to help Central American refugees safely

Adam Huggins:

across and up to Tucson. He didn't do it alone. He had the

Adam Huggins:

help of Los Cabreros Andantes. As he writes in Goatwalking.

Goatwalking:

Few groups could have been better prepared,

Goatwalking:

bonded together and predisposed than the Cabreros Andantes to

Goatwalking:

help the refugees get through. Errantry shifted from goat

Goatwalking:

herding to refugee aid.

Adam Huggins:

I really want to stop and emphasize this point

Adam Huggins:

for a moment. In my own reading of history, people who cultivate

Adam Huggins:

intimate relationships with the more-than-human world often

Adam Huggins:

become leaders, and resources in times of disaster, of

Adam Huggins:

deprivation, and of demagoguery. In this respect, I would argue

Adam Huggins:

that you could draw a straight line from St. Francis of Assisi

Adam Huggins:

to Henry David Thoreau, and right on to Jim Corbett. Few

Adam Huggins:

people would have made the decision that Jim and John made,

Adam Huggins:

and fewer still would have actually been able to pull it

Adam Huggins:

off. Jim's years of roaming in the desert with his goats turned

Adam Huggins:

out to be a singular contribution.

John Fife:

Oh, it meant everything. I mean, what does

John Fife:

some gringo from Western Pennsylvania know about

John Fife:

smuggling refugees across the border? It was all Jim's

John Fife:

conception and Jim's practice. And then Jim's training of other

John Fife:

volunteers in that practice. That was the foundation of

John Fife:

everything we did.

Adam Huggins:

By this time, Jim and his inner circle had already

Adam Huggins:

formed relationships with a Catholic priest, Father Quinones

Adam Huggins:

at the Sanctuary of Guadalupe church on the other side of the

Adam Huggins:

border in Nogales, Father Quinones would do weekly visits

Adam Huggins:

to the local Mexican prison, where migrants were held

Adam Huggins:

awaiting deportation. And Jim would join him, new groups of

Adam Huggins:

migrants would arrive and depart every week. And the conditions

Adam Huggins:

in the jail were not good.

Jim Corbett:

Yeah, it was just a concrete holding tank with

Jim Corbett:

nothing to sleep on. And normally, when we started

Jim Corbett:

working on it at a later point, no, no blankets or anything they

Jim Corbett:

just slept on the concrete floor. It was open air, so it

Jim Corbett:

got very, very cold in the winter.

Adam Huggins:

Once there, he do refugee support work, helping

Adam Huggins:

supply blankets and mattresses and sanitary products, as well

Adam Huggins:

as assisting the refugees and connecting with family members.

Adam Huggins:

He'd also use these visits as an opportunity to learn about how

Adam Huggins:

they traveled from their homes to the border, and how they

Adam Huggins:

crossed – and how they got caught. This research ended up

Adam Huggins:

being really crucial, because in the summer of 1981, the

Adam Huggins:

floodgates opened, Central American refugees began arriving

Adam Huggins:

in the Borderlands in unprecedented numbers.

John Fife:

And so with a group of about, I don't know, 20 or So

John Fife:

folks, in cooperation with a Catholic priest in Nogales,

John Fife:

Sonora, who had been running a shelter for Central American

John Fife:

refugees to protect them there in Mexico. He would refer

John Fife:

families to us, we would cross them bring them to Tucson,

Adam Huggins:

Jim and other volunteers were making daily

Adam Huggins:

trips to Nogales to help them across.

Jim Corbett:

It was just almost every day people were just

Jim Corbett:

coming through so fast.

Adam Huggins:

They'd do this all sorts of ways. For example, Jim

Adam Huggins:

learned of a hole in the border fence on the east side of

Adam Huggins:

Nogales – and when it would be watched.

Jim Corbett:

And there were certain times when the hole was

Jim Corbett:

really just left unattended. So if you knew the times when they

Jim Corbett:

weren't going to bother, you'd just always make it and then in

Jim Corbett:

'81, you know just day after day after day people were going

Jim Corbett:

through...

Adam Huggins:

And Jim would find those people and transport them

Adam Huggins:

safely past the Border Patrol to Tucson. Throughout summer in

Adam Huggins:

fall of 1981, Pat Corbett remembers him being in constant

Adam Huggins:

motion.

Pat Corbett:

Oh gosh there for a while. He'd be just, you know,

Pat Corbett:

three or four trips a day to Mexico. Really, I don't know how

Pat Corbett:

he did it,

Adam Huggins:

We'll probably never know entirely. But in

Adam Huggins:

those early days, he did it mostly just by picking folks up

Adam Huggins:

and driving them north in his truck.

Pat Corbett:

At that time the Border Patrol wasn't so you

Pat Corbett:

know, on the lookout for that kind of thing. So it wasn't as

Pat Corbett:

hard as later became.

Adam Huggins:

As sanctuary activities became more public

Adam Huggins:

and the situation worsened in Central America, the border

Adam Huggins:

tightened up. Civilized ports of entry were fortified, forcing

Adam Huggins:

migrants to attempt to cross the border in extremely dangerous,

Adam Huggins:

sparsely inhabited stretches of desert, where untold numbers

Adam Huggins:

would die over the coming decades.

Adam Huggins:

This policy of prevention through deterrence, and its

Adam Huggins:

deadly results are well documented today. But in the

Adam Huggins:

early 1980s, large groups of migrants dying in shocking

Adam Huggins:

numbers in the desert was still a novel phenomenon. In response

Adam Huggins:

to this fortification, Jim used his incredible knowledge of the

Adam Huggins:

Sonoran Desert ecology and geography to help groups of

Adam Huggins:

migrants cross by foot. Those lucky enough to cross with Jim,

Adam Huggins:

were in good hands.

John Fife:

I've spent days and up to a week with him in the

John Fife:

desert. It wasn't goatwalking, it was smuggling refugees. So I

John Fife:

learned a lot from him in those brief periods, about desert

John Fife:

survival and about what he was thinking, and about what he was

John Fife:

teaching.

Adam Huggins:

Jim's knowledge would carry the group's safely

Adam Huggins:

across this harsh terrain. Of course, it wasn't easy.

Pat Corbett:

I think the refugees, you know they were

Pat Corbett:

pretty accustomed to a tough life. And even so I think they

Pat Corbett:

found Jim's idea of how to pack across the desert in the

Pat Corbett:

mountains pretty tough.

Adam Huggins:

Eventually, the iconic quality of these desert

Adam Huggins:

crossings would make front page news. Journalists from major

Adam Huggins:

publications like the Chicago Tribune, would follow Jim into

Adam Huggins:

the desert to get the full story.

Ann Russell:

But that didn't stop them from taking refugees

Ann Russell:

from the border up into the Chiricahua mountains wearing his

Ann Russell:

sandals. On one time there was a TV crew from LA out with him and

Ann Russell:

they couldn't hack it. And there's Jim with his sandals and

Ann Russell:

his arthritic toes, just walking through the mountains.

Adam Huggins:

But that was just getting folks safely across the

Adam Huggins:

border. Then there was the question of what to do with

Adam Huggins:

them. At first, Jim would bring the refugees to his and Pat's

Adam Huggins:

apartment in Tucson, which quickly filled up. Here's a

Adam Huggins:

recording of a talk that Pat gave to a group of Quakers

Adam Huggins:

reflecting back on that time,

Pat Corbett:

A reporter in Washington DC once asked me what

Pat Corbett:

my role was in the Sanctuary Movement, which kind of

Pat Corbett:

befuddled me and it still does. But I thought a while and I

Pat Corbett:

said, Well, I guess I was the plumber. The reporter looked

Pat Corbett:

quite stunned by this. And after a while, I realized that she

Pat Corbett:

thought I meant a watergate type of plumber, when I was speaking

Pat Corbett:

quite literally of the problems involved in having sometimes 20

Pat Corbett:

or more people using a septic system meant for two.

Adam Huggins:

While Pat was dealing with the immediate

Adam Huggins:

problems presented by hosting too many people under one roof,

Adam Huggins:

Jim and the other Cabreros Andantes reached out through

Adam Huggins:

their networks to find temporary accommodation for these

Adam Huggins:

refugees. One of the people who answered that call was Gary Paul

Adam Huggins:

Nabhan

Gary Paul Nabhan:

My first year in Tucson – after living on

Gary Paul Nabhan:

ranches and national parks in southern Arizona – I ended up in

Gary Paul Nabhan:

a community garden group with Jim and his wife and many of

Gary Paul Nabhan:

their dear friends – at least half of them literally friends,

Gary Paul Nabhan:

Quakers. And we not only shared garden space, but we helped with

Gary Paul Nabhan:

goat milking. Because Jim was still doing his goatwalks.

Gary Paul Nabhan:

But he was really the first philosopher I knew who had such

Gary Paul Nabhan:

a deep grounding in western and eastern traditions, that he took

Gary Paul Nabhan:

principles from perennial traditions and adapted them to

Gary Paul Nabhan:

social justice here in the Borderlands. And he did it in a

Gary Paul Nabhan:

very non egotistical way. He didn't announce things he'd say

Gary Paul Nabhan:

something like, "Gary, I have some friends that I'd like you

Gary Paul Nabhan:

to meet that are just passing through town and they share a

Gary Paul Nabhan:

lot of your same interests. Could you meet us at the Denny's

Gary Paul Nabhan:

a few blocks away from your house?" And I'd get over there

Gary Paul Nabhan:

and there'd be a Guatemalan family that needed help filling

Gary Paul Nabhan:

out the refugee papers in one state for a month with us and

Gary Paul Nabhan:

finally got reunited with their extended family in California.

Adam Huggins:

Like many people who befriended Jim and

Adam Huggins:

participated in sanctuary, the experience was life changing for

Adam Huggins:

Gary.

Gary Paul Nabhan:

And I realized that well, at that age of my

Gary Paul Nabhan:

20s, I thought it was just a good thing to do. I had no sense

Gary Paul Nabhan:

of how much suffering they had gone through, and how even

Gary Paul Nabhan:

coming to the United States ended up not to be a solace or a

Gary Paul Nabhan:

sanctuary immediately, but a struggle to feel legal, and to

Gary Paul Nabhan:

feel like they had their dignity and overcome the post traumatic

Gary Paul Nabhan:

stress of not just what took them from their homeland, but

Gary Paul Nabhan:

all the trials and tribulations they faced in Mexico. And Jim

Gary Paul Nabhan:

somehow knew that from his own life and sort of guided those of

Gary Paul Nabhan:

us who are facing it, for the first time – that it's not a cup

Gary Paul Nabhan:

of tea, hosting refugees. They're going through deeply

Gary Paul Nabhan:

troubling issues that you need to accompany them with. And I

Gary Paul Nabhan:

thought it was giving them a room, and I realized afterwards

Gary Paul Nabhan:

that was giving them my heart and my attention and my

Gary Paul Nabhan:

listening.

Adam Huggins:

We'll return to Gary later in this series. But

Adam Huggins:

for now, I'll just say that Gary's experience is typical of

Adam Huggins:

those who became drawn to sanctuary work by Jim helping

Adam Huggins:

people felt good, but the traumas that those people

Adam Huggins:

carried were with them all the time.

Pat Corbett:

Oh, the stories you would hear from them were

Pat Corbett:

appalling.

Adam Huggins:

These were people who in many cases had directly

Adam Huggins:

experienced unimaginable violence against their person or

Adam Huggins:

their close family members, and who felt that remaining in their

Adam Huggins:

homes was more dangerous than the perilous journey northward.

Adam Huggins:

Traversing Mexico was and is extremely dangerous for Central

Adam Huggins:

American migrants. The US had put increasing pressure on

Adam Huggins:

Mexican authorities to prevent Central Americans from even

Adam Huggins:

reaching the US border. And this criminalization of migration,

Adam Huggins:

subjected migrants to organized crime, police corruption, and

Adam Huggins:

worse things. It was especially dangerous for female refugees.

Jim Corbett:

So a lot of it really had to do with the whole

Jim Corbett:

problem connected with women in that it if they are young and

Jim Corbett:

saleable, they're indefinitely exploitable, and as refugees are

Jim Corbett:

completely vulnerable,

Adam Huggins:

For these female refugees, they risked not only

Adam Huggins:

being killed, but also being exploited and trafficked for

Adam Huggins:

sex. If they were deported back to Central America, or captured

Adam Huggins:

by police or criminals in Mexico, they were in an

Adam Huggins:

incredibly difficult position. So while there were folks like

Adam Huggins:

Gary, who took refugees in, in those early days, most of the

Adam Huggins:

Central Americans still ended up living with Jim and Pat in their

Adam Huggins:

tiny apartment,

Jim Corbett:

It was just a really a very difficult thing to

Jim Corbett:

cope with all the folks and at the same time. Someone was

Jim Corbett:

arriving new on virtually every day. And most of my energy was

Jim Corbett:

going into getting them through without there being caught,

Jim Corbett:

which meant I brought them into Tucson and then hope someone

Jim Corbett:

would do something. And frequently Pat and I were doing

Jim Corbett:

it at the apartment that is in terms of the people crowded in

Jim Corbett:

there. And if I was going to be responsible, in some sense for

Jim Corbett:

trying to cope, it was easier to cope with 20 people crammed into

Jim Corbett:

the apartment where I lived and to try to run around town,

Jim Corbett:

figuring out what to do with folks somewhere else. So it

Jim Corbett:

simply reached a point of extreme overload.

Adam Huggins:

With their apartment full, and at their

Adam Huggins:

wit's end, it was clear for Pat and Jim that something needed to

Adam Huggins:

change. In hindsight, what happened next was a stroke of

Adam Huggins:

sheer brilliance. Jim told it like this.

Jim Corbett:

Oh, yeah, there's been a period of several weeks

Jim Corbett:

where Pat had been talking about the need to find some church or

Jim Corbett:

someone who could take care of the refugees. And that was

Jim Corbett:

especially urgent because I was planning to go down to Chiapas

Jim Corbett:

and Guatemala. And it became clear that it just wouldn't be

Jim Corbett:

good to leave Pat alone, trying to tend to the apartment down

Jim Corbett:

full of refugees.

Adam Huggins:

Pat tells it like this.

Pat Corbett:

At one point, I finally was saying to Jim, that

Pat Corbett:

you should go talk to some of these church people who were

Pat Corbett:

also concerned about the refugees. Because they have

Pat Corbett:

these churches with lots of room, lots more room than we

Pat Corbett:

had, and better plumbing. And so poor John five, Jim picked on

Pat Corbett:

him. And he went to his congregation and they had a

Pat Corbett:

congregation discussion about it and decided that they should

Pat Corbett:

start housing refugees, so I was able to let them have my 21 or

Pat Corbett:

22 refugees. Great sigh of relief

Adam Huggins:

And John – he tells it like this:

John Fife:

And then both Pat and my wife got together and

John Fife:

threatened divorce and said, "Come on, guys, we can't be

John Fife:

trying to provide all the care that refugees present to us in

John Fife:

terms of their needs in our homes." And so that's when Jim

John Fife:

came to me and said, "can we bring those folks to the

John Fife:

church?"

Adam Huggins:

By all accounts, I think we can conclude that Pat

Adam Huggins:

was responsible for moving sanctuary from a tiny apartment

Adam Huggins:

to the churches of America, setting the stage for a national

Adam Huggins:

modern day Underground Railroad.

John Fife:

That's probably an accurate rendering of history in

John Fife:

my judgment, yeah.

Adam Huggins:

From this point on, sanctuary would be spelled

Adam Huggins:

with a capital S.

Adam Huggins:

On March 24 1982, Southside Church publicly declared itself

Adam Huggins:

to be a Sanctuary for the oppressed of Central America. By

Adam Huggins:

1985, over 500 congregations joined creating a national

Adam Huggins:

movement, with 1000s of volunteers working to shelter,

Adam Huggins:

transport, and house refugees from war torn Central America.

Adam Huggins:

Jim, the solitary Quaker, had finally found a home in the

Adam Huggins:

church, and his principled stand had created a movement that

Adam Huggins:

defied the most powerful government on the face of the

Adam Huggins:

earth.

Adam Huggins:

You might have a few questions at this point. For example, how

Adam Huggins:

did Sanctuary volunteers ensure that the migrants that they were

Adam Huggins:

helping were actually refugees? The answer is the church. When

Adam Huggins:

he wasn't helping folks cross the borderm Jim traveled

Adam Huggins:

extensively throughout southern Mexico and Guatemala during this

Adam Huggins:

period, tapping into a network of churches that extended from

Adam Huggins:

Latin America, north to the United States. The pastors of

Adam Huggins:

these congregations took incredible risks to help

Adam Huggins:

migrants on their way north. And in the process, they would vet

Adam Huggins:

the migrants to make sure that they weren't unknowingly

Adam Huggins:

sheltering people who had no legitimate claim to asylum. By

Adam Huggins:

the time these folks actually reached the US border, the

Adam Huggins:

Sanctuary network would be able to vouch for them as refugees,

Adam Huggins:

regardless of the US government's intransigence on

Adam Huggins:

the issue.

Adam Huggins:

Later in this series, we'll critique this notion of

Adam Huggins:

deserving refugees versus undeserving economic migrants.

Adam Huggins:

But for Jim and the other sanctuary volunteers, it was

Adam Huggins:

important that they took extreme care to make sure that sanctuary

Adam Huggins:

volunteers weren't unknowingly doing the work of coyotes, or

Adam Huggins:

other smuggling operations.

Adam Huggins:

Another question, how did these churches organize themselves?

Adam Huggins:

The answer is through lots of meetings and letters. The

Adam Huggins:

horizontal structure of the Sanctuary Movement meant that no

Adam Huggins:

one was in charge. And although John and Jim tended to act as

Adam Huggins:

national spokespeople, each congregation functioned

Adam Huggins:

voluntarily and autonomously. This sometimes led to issues

Adam Huggins:

such as certain congregations wanting to politicize the

Adam Huggins:

refugees they helped, by asking them to speak out against the

Adam Huggins:

right wing governments of Latin America. Jim was strongly

Adam Huggins:

against this politicization of sanctuary.

Jim Corbett:

It was very firm with everyone here, that that

Jim Corbett:

particular approach was one that was morally wrong, that it

Jim Corbett:

really is wrong to deny people aid because they don't fit your

Jim Corbett:

political purposes. It's wrong to pressure people into fitting

Jim Corbett:

your political purposes, who are in desperate situations.

Adam Huggins:

In Tucson, at least, Sanctuary would be

Adam Huggins:

offered to asylum seekers, regardless of their political

Adam Huggins:

orientation. At the time, this elevation of human life over

Adam Huggins:

political expediency contrasted sharply with both US government,

Adam Huggins:

and more ideological leftist groups and congregations.

Adam Huggins:

But the question that I'd like to examine for the rest of this

Adam Huggins:

episode, is how did the Sanctuary Movement choose to

Adam Huggins:

justify its actions to the citizens and the government of

Adam Huggins:

the United States?

John Fife:

Well, when we finally in March of 1982, declared

John Fife:

Southside Church's as Sanctuary for Central American refugees

John Fife:

and received a mother father and two kids – two little kids – in

John Fife:

publicly into the sanctuary of the church, I thought and Jim

John Fife:

thought, at that point, that we were doing civil disobedience in

John Fife:

the tradition of King and Gandhi and Thoreau, and going back to

John Fife:

Moses's sister who hit him along the Nile to keep Pharaoh from

John Fife:

killing all male children back there

Adam Huggins:

Civil disobedience, as many of us are

Adam Huggins:

taught in grade school, is a term popularized by 19th century

Adam Huggins:

American author Henry David Thoreau. You know, the guy who

Adam Huggins:

lived in a cabin on Walden Pond and went to prison for refusing

Adam Huggins:

to pay his taxes.

John Fife:

And so I talked about King and quoted Gandhi and went

John Fife:

on and on when we did the public declaration of Sanctuary here.

John Fife:

And about a month after we had done that, I get a call in my

John Fife:

office, and this guy says, "I'm a human rights attorney from New

John Fife:

York. And you've got to stop talking about civil

John Fife:

disobedience. You're not doing civil disobedience." And I

John Fife:

laughed, and I said, "What do you mean, the government says

John Fife:

they're going to indict us any day now. They keep saying that,

John Fife:

and I'm just sitting around waiting for the documents." And

John Fife:

he said to me, "Listen, dummy." That's a direct quote, "you're

John Fife:

not doing civil disobedience. It's the government that's doing

John Fife:

civil disobedience. It's the government that's violating

John Fife:

United States refugee law. So every time you talk about civil

John Fife:

disobedience, people get it all mixed up. So stop it." And I

John Fife:

said, "Oh, I think I understand. But what do we call what we're

John Fife:

doing now?" And he said, "I don't know make it up." And so I

John Fife:

went to Jim told him about the phone call. And he kind of

John Fife:

smiled and came back about three or four days later, with this

John Fife:

whole paper that he called on civil initiative.

Adam Huggins:

In his essays on the topic, Jim converses with

Adam Huggins:

Thoreau, Gandhi, and Hobbs to articulate a new paradigm for

Adam Huggins:

radical justice. He called it civil initiative.

Goatwalking:

Civil initiative maintains and extends the rule

Goatwalking:

of law. Unlike civil disobedience, which breaks it,

Goatwalking:

and civil obedience, which lets the government break it.

Adam Huggins:

Civil initiative reframed the discussion, casting

Adam Huggins:

the government as the one that was violating its own laws, and

Adam Huggins:

higher laws as well.

Jim Corbett:

Conventional civil disobedience would simply

Jim Corbett:

concede to the government the destruction of the refugee laws

Jim Corbett:

– that what was at stake was international human rights and

Jim Corbett:

humanitarian law and the domestic refugee law. And that

Jim Corbett:

it was very important not to take a traditional civil

Jim Corbett:

disobedience approach. If we were going to save the laws,

Jim Corbett:

because if when the government violates the law that way, and

Jim Corbett:

is attacking it, you simply concede their legitimacy and say

Jim Corbett:

that you're breaking the law, then that just does it in.

Jim Corbett:

You're not going to save the law, any of the law at that

Jim Corbett:

point.

Adam Huggins:

This framing was crucial in convincing so many

Adam Huggins:

people who would not otherwise engage in quote, unquote,

Adam Huggins:

illegal behavior, to take up Jim's proposition of

Adam Huggins:

collectively enacting US immigration law at the

Adam Huggins:

grassroots level, even as the US government itself under the

Adam Huggins:

Reagan administration violated it.

John Fife:

I mean, it's one thing to go to Presbyterian

John Fife:

churches or Catholic churches or Jewish synagogues and say, "we'd

John Fife:

like you to join us in doing civil disobedience with all of

John Fife:

the negative and risk aspects, that that would have entailed,"

John Fife:

it's quite another thing to go to them and say "it's the

John Fife:

government that's violating human rights and United States

John Fife:

law. Join us in an active public resistance to government

John Fife:

crimes." That puts a very different incentive and

John Fife:

prospective for risk taking under those conditions. It meant

John Fife:

we were able to build a movement quickly.

Adam Huggins:

This movement, grounded in international human

Adam Huggins:

rights law, US law, as it was written, and the divine laws of

Adam Huggins:

the church, joined a long tradition of people, especially

Adam Huggins:

Indigenous people and people of color, who had risked everything

Adam Huggins:

to defy a US government, which, throughout time, has steadily

Adam Huggins:

refused to live up to its own laws, principles, and founding

Adam Huggins:

documents.

John Fife:

Oh, sure, if you look back, you can make a clear case

John Fife:

that Dr. King was not doing civil disobedience. He was doing

John Fife:

civil initiative, as we understood it in our movement.

John Fife:

You can go on and on and on throughout history and say, "no,

John Fife:

no, that's not civil disobedience."

Adam Huggins:

Today, when I think of mutual aid movements,

Adam Huggins:

and so many people coming together to resist the wholesale

Adam Huggins:

destruction of human and biological communities. I think

Adam Huggins:

of the power of this reconceptualization of civil

Adam Huggins:

disobedience to civil initiative. It acknowledges a

Adam Huggins:

fundamental kind of work that we can only do when we act as a

Adam Huggins:

community. Jim would later write:

Goatwalking:

Individuals can resist injustice, but only

Goatwalking:

community can do justice.

Adam Huggins:

Of course, the US government acknowledges no

Adam Huggins:

higher authority than its own, in practice. And it was only a

Adam Huggins:

matter of time before Jim, John, and a number of other sanctuary

Adam Huggins:

volunteers were brought to trial. The Sanctuary Movement

Adam Huggins:

had been infiltrated, and covert tape recordings were made,

Adam Huggins:

followed by charges. The judge was prejudiced and wouldn't

Adam Huggins:

allow Jim and his co-defendants to present a defense at all –

Adam Huggins:

ruling that no discussion of sanctuary or refugees would be

Adam Huggins:

admitted. The story of the trial is fascinating, and has been

Adam Huggins:

thoroughly documented in other media, including the 99%

Invisible series. The outcome:

:

several folks were convicted,

Invisible series. The outcome:

:

including John Fife, but Jim and others were found innocent, and

Invisible series. The outcome:

:

the charges were later overturned, or sentences

Invisible series. The outcome:

:

reduced. Ironically, Jim Corbett, the man that the

Invisible series. The outcome:

:

government had wanted most to convict, hadn't been in Tucson

Invisible series. The outcome:

:

when the government informit infiltrated the sanctuary

Invisible series. The outcome:

:

network.

John Fife:

He was spending all of his time border south to

John Fife:

Central America, putting that part of the Underground Railroad

John Fife:

together so we could get people safely out of Central American

John Fife:

and to the border. And so they had no evidence against him. So

John Fife:

that's why he was found innocent

Adam Huggins:

In the end, what the trial served to do was to

Adam Huggins:

strengthen the Sanctuary Movement, giving it a national

Adam Huggins:

stage and the righteous narrative of the church standing

Adam Huggins:

up to a tyrannical government. Sanctuary in this incarnation

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would continue into the late 1980s, until the number of

Adam Huggins:

refugees seeking asylum began to decrease. For Jim, the end of

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the trial also signaled to him that he could finally start to

Adam Huggins:

step back from Sanctuary work.

Jim Corbett:

In some measure, I can, I think, now turn back to

Jim Corbett:

the things that I choose to do. My agenda has been set by the

Jim Corbett:

refugee situation, I wouldn't have simply chosen this out of

Jim Corbett:

the various social concerns. If I have been choosing, and

Jim Corbett:

environmental concerns and rediscovery of the Sabbath, are

Jim Corbett:

some of the things that I am very interested in pursuing now,

Jim Corbett:

I think I have the chance to attend to, I might even do a

Jim Corbett:

new, revised, updated version of Goatwalking manuscripts.

Adam Huggins:

This would be the time that Jim would finally

Adam Huggins:

finish his first book, Goatwalking. But he also had a

Adam Huggins:

new project in mind. One that spoke more to Aldo Leopold, than

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to Henry David Thoreau.

Jim Corbett:

And the whole development of the land ethic in

Jim Corbett:

which there is protective, symbiotic community at work. So

Jim Corbett:

that, I think my attitudes with regard to the refugees, the

Jim Corbett:

reasons I took the course of action I did were very much

Jim Corbett:

formed by this other broader attitude towards the fact that

Jim Corbett:

human beings have an enormous responsibility to bring into

Jim Corbett:

full, reflective consciousness that community that does exist

Jim Corbett:

among all living things. That life is in fact among us rather

Jim Corbett:

than in us. And that definitely has a bearing on my

Jim Corbett:

understanding of what Sanctuary is. And Sanctuary in its

Jim Corbett:

broadest sense extends far beyond Central America and

Jim Corbett:

specific human refugees, to the need for a harmonious community

Jim Corbett:

among all living things,

Adam Huggins:

Extending Sanctuary to all life. That's

Adam Huggins:

next time, in part three of Goatwalkar.

Adam Huggins:

Goatwalker is produced by myself, Adam Huggins and Mendel

Adam Huggins:

Skulski for Future Ecologies. Ilana Fonoriov is the Associate

Adam Huggins:

Producer for the series. For photos, citations and more

Adam Huggins:

information about the people and events described in this

Adam Huggins:

episode, including some truly incredible photos of Jim from

Adam Huggins:

the Sanctuary years. Please visit futureecologies.net.

Adam Huggins:

In this episode, you heard Ann Russel, Tom Orum, John Fife, Pat

Adam Huggins:

Corbett, Gary Paul Nabhan, Jim Corbett, and Miriam Davidson.

Adam Huggins:

Narration was by Philip Buller

Adam Huggins:

Music was by People with Bodies, Meteoric, Hidden Sky, and

Adam Huggins:

Sunfish Moon Light. The Goatwalker theme is by Ryder

Adam Huggins:

Thomas White, and Sunfish Moon Light. Special thanks to Theresa

Adam Huggins:

Madison, Susan Tollefson, John Fife, Pat Corbett, Nancy

Adam Huggins:

Ferguson, Tom Orum, Gary Paul Nabhan, Gita Bodner, Amanda

Adam Huggins:

Howard and the University of Arizona, Sadie Couture, Phil

Adam Huggins:

Buller and Danny Elmes

Adam Huggins:

Future ecologies is an independent production supported

Adam Huggins:

by our patrons. To join them, go to patreon.com/futureecologies.

Adam Huggins:

This series was recorded on the territory of the Tohono O’odham,

Adam Huggins:

and produced on the unceded, shared, and asserted territory

Adam Huggins:

of the Penelakut, Hwlitsum, Lelum Sar Augh Ta Naogh, and

Adam Huggins:

other Hul’qumi’num speaking peoples.

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