This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

In the 1980s, the United States experienced a refugee crisis.

Thousands of Central Americans were fleeing brutal civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala.

They were traveling north through Mexico and crossing the border into the U.S.

We covered this history on the show last week if you haven't heard that episode yet.

Go listen now. This is part two.

In response to this mass migration, a network of churches across the country declared themselves

sanctuaries.

That's producer Delaney Hall.

In defiance of federal policy, some of these churches helped smuggle Central Americans across the border

and offered shelter to people who were threatened with deportation. the In the the congregation like that churches were openly defined immigration law in harboring undocumented immigrants.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service, now known as Immigration and Customs Enforcement

or ICE, contended that many of these people didn't have legitimate

asylum claims. The agency's stance was that many of these migrants had come to

the US to find jobs, not because they feared political persecution.

A refugee from El Salvador, the administration contends he and others like him have come here

for economic reasons.

But the young man listed other reasons for fleeing his homeland.

Killings, repressions, misery, and hunger.

The U.S. government found itself in a tough situation.

They could allow the churches to continue openly disregarding the law,

or they could launch an investigation into the movement

...