In the Cambridge area, the non-cooperation mandated by the sanctuary resolution has had minimal effect on the search for illegal aliens from the Cambridge area, says one INS official. The INS deputy district director for the Boston area says that his office deported 18 undocumented residents from Cambridge last year, not significantly different from the numbers of immigrants forced to leave in 1984.

But Councilor Alice K. Wolf--who first sponsored the city's sanctuary resolution--still thinks it is unclear what sort of effect sanctuary has had. Wolf did say that before the resolution was adopted, she received several complaints about city agencies requiring residency papers in order to obtain services. Today, the two-term legislator says she receives none.

Other city officials say that the sanctuary label has not resulted in the massive influx of illegal aliens to Cambridge. Isabella Hines, deputy director of Cambridge's Human Services Department, says that enrollments for public education, health and housing assistance programs have not increased significantly due to the resolution.

"Unless you had a particular anchor in Cambridge, you wouldn't decide to come here with such high rents," Hines says. She says that though the amount the city spends on human services--$44 million, including $39 million for health and hospitals--has increased in the last year, the rise represents a five-year trend and cannot be attributed to any major influx of immigrants.

"We've had to work really hard with a population which has had a lot of difficulty with government. It took a long time for them to trust us," Hines says, adding that refugees are more likely to seek private sources for help than rely on city services.

And following trends at other sanctuary churches and support groups across the country, local groups at the Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Harvard Square have been hit by at least seven burglaries in the past 18 months. The break-ins at the Massachusetts Ave. church, which harbors a Salvadoran refugee and houses several groups opposing U.S. policies in Central America, have prompted growing fears among activists that they are the targets of an active intimidation campaign by either the government or right-wing organizations.

The most recent break-in occurred last month, and police have arrested no suspects in relation to the burglaries.