In a move to advance the village board’s goals of bolstering racial equity, language access and equitable access, Oak Park has applied to become a “Certified Welcoming City.”
This designation is reserved for local governments that have policies and programs in place that embrace immigrant inclusion, according to Welcoming America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for inclusive communities. So far, 24 cities and counties in the United States have earned this certification, including Champaign, Illinois.
Oak Park’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion applied for this designation on Feb. 9. On March 1, the village was accepted to begin the certification process that will take more than a year.
The designation, according to village officials, will help ensure immigrants and marginalized populations have access to democratic spaces. It is also intended to help build programs that support entrepreneurship, business development and workforce development for everyone in the village. Additionally, it will help ensure schools and community education programs are informed about these populations’ needs and are accessible to all.
From late October 2023 to early April 2024, the village provided support for asylum seekers, many of whom arrived in Oak Park during a snowstorm. The village-sponsored shelters and its migrant response efforts will total nearly $2.5 million in June. Colin Knapp, president of Community of Congregation, said they housed about 201 migrants.
“This process will increase our efficiencies around how we are being responsive to immigrant needs in our Oak Park community,” said Danielle Walker, the village’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer.
To become a Certified Welcoming City, the city must meet standards within seven categories: civic engagement, connected communities, economic development, education, equitable access, government and community leadership, and safe communities.
After a self-assessment, audit and a final report, Oak Park will receive its certification, which is valid for four years. During this process, Welcoming America will help identify the needs of immigrants and other marginalized communities along with recommendations and priorities to focus on moving forward. This process cost $9,000, which Walker said the cost was covered by a scholarship.
“There is a lot of good (DEI) work that sometimes just really gets buried,” Walker said. “[This process] provides a really meaningful opportunity to highlight that and celebrate that work.”
Oak Park adopted a “Welcoming Village Ordinance” in 2017. That ordinance codified the practice of village employees, including police, not collecting information related to immigrant status of Oak Park residents or visitors. Becoming a Certified Welcoming City will not interfere with that ordinance, according to village officials.
This Welcoming Standard also emphasizes building trust between law enforcement and residents, Walker said, including educating immigrants about their rights and responsibilities under the law.
At the May 21 meeting, Trustee Ravi Parakkat said he’s concerned about how this certification might affect the community. There’s a broken immigration system in the United States at the national level, he said. This certification, he said, might blur the responsibilities between local, state and federal governments.
“[We need to] manage the scope of what we can take on,” Parakkat said.
Oak Park is not intending to provide work that needs to happen at a federal level with this certification, Walker responded, but rather to be intentional about its response to immigrants and other marginalized groups in this community.
Village Manager Kevin Jackson said this process is an opportunity to define Oak Park’s level of service, not to be “everything to everyone.”
Parakkat said he believes if the definition of who this process applies to is too broad, the village could be put in the same position as it was in fall 2023, referring to the influx of migrants to the community.
“And then we spend tax dollars in a very inequitable and inefficient manner locally,” he said.
Village President Vicki Scaman disagreed, and said funds were not misused. Oak Park spent state and federal dollars that were committed specifically for migrant services, she said, and staff are working to get back as many local dollars as possible. As of early May, Oak Park has been, or expects to be, reimbursed for all but $352,000 of its expenditures in the migrant response.
After Trustee Cory Wesley asked if this certification would include response to “undocumented immigrants,” Walker said the process is not specifically geared toward that population. But the response will be tailored to the community here, so it could, depending on demographics.
A lot of this process applies to communities beyond immigrants, including the Black community, Wesley said, so he wants to ensure they’re included in this process, too.
“If you want to create a welcoming community for people, you actually have to name them when you’re doing a thing for them,” Wesley said.
Other board members, including Trustee Brian Straw, echoed the sentiment.
“I hope we aren’t exclusive in our definition of immigrant,” Straw said. “We have a lot of different immigrant stories in this community. None of them look the same, sound the same … We need to absolutely celebrate the diversity of the immigrant experience and not be exclusive about what that definition looks like.”