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An Ordinance Amending Article 13-7 ("Welcoming Village") of the Oak Park Village Code Regarding the Use of Village Property for Civil Immigration Enforcement Purposes
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Introduction
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This is an ordinance amending Article 13-7 ("Welcoming Village") of the Oak Park Village Code regarding the use of Village property for civil immigration enforcement purposes.
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Recommended Action
Adopt the ordinance.
Prior Board Action
At the October 21, 2025 Village Board meeting, during the discussion of item ID 25-624, the Board directed staff to create an ordinance prohibiting the commandeering of Village property for staging areas, processing locations, and operations bases for civil immigration enforcement purposes.
Background
On October 21, 2025, staff received direction from the Board of Trustees to draft an ordinance prohibiting staging areas, processing locations, and operations bases for civil immigration enforcement purposes on Village-owned property. Since this meeting, staff have drafted ordinance language, highlighted some operational impacts of adopting the ordinance, and have begun identifying and developing additional community education and engagement approaches.
In terms of engagement, the Village has issued multiple news releases that reinforce the Village's position as a Welcoming Village, including on October 9, 2025, September 26, 2025, September 19, 2025, and September 18, 2025. The content of the statements does vary, but each release references the Welcoming Ordinance, describes the role of Village law enforcement and other Village staff and confirms that the Village does not assist in matters related to federal civil immigration enforcement. These news releases also direct people to the Village's Immigration Resources page, www.oak-park.us/immigrationresources. Similarly, there is an item on the front page of the upcoming November/December issue of the OP/FYI that includes the link to resources, as ...
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