William Gheen is president of Americans for Legal Immigration, which is based in Raleigh, N.C. The organization does not support providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

Gregory Freeland is an associate professor of political science at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and director of its Center for Equality and Justice. He is familiar with the organization, goals and spread of the New Sanctuary Movement.

Rabbi Michael Feinberg is an ordained Reconstructionist rabbi and identifies as a democratic socialist. He has described providing sanctuary for immigrants as an act of “radical hospitality,” in line with the religious principle of welcoming the stranger. He is a veteran of successful living wage campaigns, and a longtime active member of the Religious Socialism Working […]

Muzaffar Chishti is director of the Migration Policy Institute at New York University’s School of Law. His work focuses on U.S. immigration policy, the intersection of labor and immigration law, civil liberties and immigrant integration. He has been critical of the New Sanctuary Movement for its failure to distinguish between civil and criminal immigration cases.

Kim Bobo is the founder and executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, which works with faith communities to provide sanctuary and support for illegal immigrants. She is the author of Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid – And What We Can Do About It (2008).

Roy Beck is CEO and founder of Numbers USA, an Arlington, Va.-based group advocating a reduction in immigration to the United States. Beck spoke on a panel at the September 2008 RNA conference.

The Migration Policy Institute is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that studies migration issues and U.S. immigration policy. Its National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy maintains a “data hub” with information on migration patterns to the U.S. and on immigrants living here and elsewhere around the world. The media contact is Michelle Mittelstadt.

Justice for Immigrants is a project of the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform, a part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is a coalition of many Catholic groups.

The Immigration Reform Law Institute is the legal arm of FAIR (see above) and describes itself as a public interest law organization working to protect U.S. citizens from injuries and damage caused by illegal immigration. It is based in Washington, D.C. Kris W. Kobach is its chief counsel.