Oak Park Adopts 'Welcoming Village Ordinance' to Protect Immigrants, Non-Citizens

The welcoming ordinance Oak Park residents pushed for in the weeks following President Trump's "immigration ban" was adopted Monday night by the village’s Board of Trustees, the village announced Tuesday.

The Welcoming Village Ordinance distinguishes Oak Park as an all-inclusive community in which citizenship or immigration status doesn’t affect interactions between residents and municipal employees, according to a release.

The ordinance drafted by the Village Board bars local policemen from asking or keeping any information concerning the immigration status of residents and “codifies the longstanding practice [of tolerance] among Village employees.”

Village officials did try to stay away from federal law when writing up the new legislation, making it clear that immigration is a countrywide, federal issue and not something they want to tamper with at the municipal level. What the new ordinance does, according to Community Relations Director Cedric Melton, is clarify relationships and communication between individuals in Oak Park.

“Achieving and maintaining a community that treats all people will respect and dignity is in keeping with longstanding Village policies and the principles upon which the United States was founded,” he said in the release. “The Welcoming Village Ordinance will promote the general welfare of Village residents and visitors alike and formally state that immigrant community members, whether documented citizens or not, should be treated with respect by all Village employees.”

Oak Park was one of the first communities in the country to enforce a Human Rights Ordinance in 1968, the release states, which protected the rights of citizens no matter their race, sex, color, religion, ancestry, age, sexuality, marital status and more.

“In most respects, the ordinance means business as usual in Oak Park, since the Village has never routinely included questions about citizenship or immigration status in interactions with residents or visitors,” the release reads.

Melton said this new piece of writing just strengthens the ordinance passed five decades ago.

“Both ordinances are about discrimination,” he said. “The Welcoming Village Ordinance confirms that municipal employees will not pre-judge someone’s right to be a part of our community.”

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Photo by Anicka Slachta for Patch