River Forest drafts a welcoming resolution

The River Forest Village Board is currently working on a so-called “welcoming resolution” draft to spell out its policies toward undocumented village residents and visitors. As reported by Wednesday Journal, nearby communities, including Oak Park, have adopted similar measures in recent months. 

At its July 10 meeting, village trustees discussed a working draft of the resolution and took public comment. They did not include the draft in the meeting’s packet and it was not available for residents to read. 

At that meeting, Village President Catherine Adduci said the resolution could be on the board’s August agenda. 

Wednesday Journal got a copy of the latest available working draft through a Freedom of Information Act request. The draft is the same document trustees discussed at the July 10 meeting, Village Administrator Eric Palm said. It has not been updated or changed based on trustee comments or resident feedback. 

The full document is available online at oakpark.com. 

The July 10 draft, as trustees said, was based, in part, on Forest Park’s resolution, which passed in June. There is also language borrowed from the Illinois Trust Act, a statewide piece of legislation. 

The River Forest draft resolution does include language barring any village employee from detaining anyone based solely on an immigration detainer or a non-judicial warrant.  That section is not found in Forest Park’s resolution. 

“It’s been a long process with River Forest,” Mony Ruiz-Velasco, executive director of PASO, the West Suburban Action Project, said. “A lot of the community members have expressed what they want to see, what they want for River Forest.” 

Ruiz-Velasco’s group helped write the Illinois Trust Act and has been active in several west suburban communities. She said language restricting communication between village employees and federal immigration authorities should be added to the resolution. 

“The resolution that they have in front of them, you know, is a good start,” Ruiz-Velasco said. “It’s more at this point really refining some of the language that they are looking at.”

“We know the trustees are still working on the final language,” River Forester Tim Brandhorst said July 24. “We are very hopeful that they are doing the right thing for the village.” 

Brandhorst mentioned the overwhelming support from dozens of community members during public comment at both the board’s June and July meeting. 

 “The work doesn’t end when the ordinance or the resolution passes,” Ruiz-Velasco said. “We have to monitor to see if things are happening according to the law.” 

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