Beyond the wide affirmation of Oak Park values at Monday’s Unity Temple gathering, Oak Park’s village government took two street level steps recently that make real its intentions to welcome and protect people.
The village issued a statement that in civil cases, as opposed to criminal cases, that it will not assist federal officials in enforcing immigration arrests by ICE as might be ordered by the Trump administration.
“Every resident, regardless of immigration status, is entitled to access village services without fear of deportation or other immigration-related consequences,” the village wrote in a Feb. 4 statement.
And last seek the village board approved spending $367,000 to fund an expanded emergency overnight shelter for those without housing. The action will double the number of available beds as it shifts this Housing Forward run program from the old rectory at St. Catherine-St. Lucy on Austin Boulevard to a larger space in an Oak Park Housing Authority space at Humphrey and South Boulevard.
Housing Forward also received funds from Cook County to support this shelter.
While we are supportive of these efforts we also acknowledge that many local initiatives around support for migrants and the unhoused have over the past two years been funded by the village government with monies received from an array of federal and state coffers. As the Trump administration potentially achieves its goal of turning off the spigot for social justice funding, Oak Park’s ability to pass through these funds will diminish.