Expanding Sanctuary follows an immigrant mother who becomes a powerful community leader in the fight to end police data-sharing with ICE.

Film Screening & Panel Discussion: Expanding Sanctuary

About the Film: An immigrant mother, Linda Hernandez, becomes an unexpected community leader during a groundbreaking campaign to end the Philadelphia police’s data-sharing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Expanding Sanctuary tells a rarely seen story of resilience, tracing the Latinx immigrant community’s successful fight to protect families and change legislation against a backdrop of systemic injustice.

At the heart of the film is a personal journey of transformation. What begins as a woman’s quest to bring her mother to the United States for her wedding evolves into a profound awakening. As she works with the immigrant rights organization Juntos, she discovers her voice, power, and agency, channeling her initial hope for personal connection into a larger purpose. Her newfound role as an organizer not only redefines her life but strengthens her entire community’s fight for justice, illuminating the extraordinary potential of collective action and solidarity.

Film completion date: 2023 | Watch the trailer

Panel Discussion:

Following the screening, Kristal Sotomayor, the Director of the film, Linda Hernandez, the protagonist of the film, and Erik Garcia, the Program and Organizing Director at ÒRALE, will lead a dialogue contextualizing SB 54 (California’s sanctuary law), within the fight for expanded sanctuary protections. The discussion will also compare the immigration enforcement and family separation tactics of the first Trump term against the evolving strategies of Trump 2.0.