The United States could not easily grant political asylum to Central Americans because it would mean openly admitting that Central Americans were being persecuted. It would also mean that the United States government would have to accept responsibility for some of the persecution. Under President Ronald Reagan, the U.S. government provided military and economic aid to military juntas (military groups that take control of a government at the conclusion of a revolution) in Central America, thereby sustaining the repression from which the political refugees were fleeing. As a result of friendly relations between the United States and Central America, many Central American political refugees have been declared illegal aliens, and those who are not in sanctuary — hidden from governmental officials, who would force them to return to their native countries, and living secretly in the United States — have been deported.
It became clear to the religious communities that working within the legal system was not helping the political refugees. The refugees needed far more immediate assistance. In 1982, the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona, and several churches in California declared themselves public sanctuaries for citizens of Guatemala and El Salvador. The Reverend John Fife, former minister of Southside Presbyterian Church, and Quaker Jim Corbett are credited with starting the underground-railroad form of refugee aid.
