For the 2010 DVD edition of RESF: a resistance network, we have worked out a glossary of key words heard in the films, related to France’s immigration policy. The information contained in this lexicon gives some context and details about the events recounted in the films.
CIVIC SPONSORSHIP
Civic sponsorships are symbolic actions, during which a mayor or deputy mayor welcomes in his/her town hall undocumented people as full-fledged citizens. A sponsorship certificate is presented to them as a kind of “first document” devoid, however, of legal value. Sponsorships concern mainly undocumented families with children going to school.
These sponsorships allow these people to come out of the shadows and to build relationships with their sponsors, which may lead to a collective action in case they’re arrested and face deportation.
> Source
- Article site web de RESF