Die Navigation ethischer Dilemmas von Sanctuary City Akteur:innen: Politiken, Praktiken und Perspektiven von Migrant:innen in Zürich und Newark

This research examines the ethical dilemmas encountered by local government and civil society actors in the implementation of urban sanctuary policies in Zürich, Switzerland, and Newark, New Jersey, USA. Sanctuary cities offer a certain degree of protection to migrants with precarious status by limiting cooperation with national immigration authorities or through the discretionary power of the local bureaucracy. Furthermore, these municipalities frequently implement inclusive measures and facilitate access to municipal services. In the United States, sanctuary cities are currently at the forefront of legal and discursive confrontations with national migration policies. Despite operating in vastly different legal and political environments, both Zürich and Newark have developed similar inclusive policies aimed at supporting and protecting migrants with precarious status. This research project employs a ‘most different’ comparative design to explore how the various actors within these cities navigate ethical dilemmas, such as the tension between upholding basic human rights principles and adhering to national immigration law. It also examines the0 subsequent moral and political questions that arise from these practices. Furthermore, it will examine how the urban sanctuary policies and practices are perceived and experienced by migrants with precarious status, a gap in the existing literature. The research employs ethnographic fieldwork, stakeholder interviews, and focus groups with migrants in precarious status. The incorporation of these qualitative methods is intended to shed light on the ethical dilemmas and moral considerations that influence sanctuary policies and practices, as well as the lived experiences of migrants affected by them. The findings of this study will contribute to the literature on the ethics of migration policy making and will offer insights and recommendations for local actors working in the governance of urban migration.