Humboldt State University's Department of Politics will host the 13th annual Victor T. Schaub Memorial Lecture on Local Politics on Thursday, March 23, at 5 p.m. This year’s theme, presented by Kathleen Lee and Julie Fulkerson, is “Sanctuary Cities: What Are the Issues.” The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place in Science B, Room 135, on the HSU campus.

A sanctuary city is one that has adopted a policy of protecting unauthorized immigrants by not prosecuting them for violating federal immigration laws and by ensuring that all residents have access to city services, regardless of immigration status. Although the specific name “sanctuary cities” comes from 1980s protests against federal immigration policies that denied asylum to refugees from U.S. funded wars in Central America, the tradition dates back to the birth of the U.S. government when states and cities opposed to slavery offered sanctuary to escaped slaves.

The event will explore the constitutional questions and conflicts that date back to the Pre Civil War era, as well as threats by the Trump Administration to strip away federal funding from cities that declare themselves to be sanctuaries.

Kathleen Lee is a lecturer in the Politics Department. Julie Fulkerson has served as Council Member and Mayor, City of Arcata; Board Member and Chair of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors; and Council Member and Mayor, City of Trinidad.

The lecture series' namesake, Victor Schaub, was an Arcata civil attorney and professional mediator who was elected to the City Council in 1988 and served two terms, until 1996. He served as mayor from 1990-95. Victor died in 2004 at the age of 60, and the Victor Schaub Memorial Lecture series was established in his honor.

Persons who wish to request disability related accommodations should contact the Politics Department at 707-826-4494 or politics@humboldt.edu as soon as possible. Some accommodations may take up to several weeks to arrange.

Refreshments provided.