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Cicero Residents Demand Town President Larry Dominick Affirm 2008 Commitment and Sign Welcoming Cicero Ordinance


No ordinance currently prohibits local law enforcement and Town Officials from collaborating with ICE, An ordinance is necessary to protect residents from Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda

Cicero Ordinance
Community members gather outside Cicero’s Town Hall on November 14 for a press conference asking Town President Larry Dominick to pass a Welcoming Cicero Ordinance. (Image Provided)

Cicero, IL—(ENEWSPF)—November 14, 2017.  In 2008, the Town of Cicero passed a Cicero Safe Space resolution1 stating that Town agents, including law enforcement, would refrain from enforcing and using city resources to implement federal immigration laws. While previous efforts of the Town of Cicero are applauded, the Welcoming Cicero Coalition ask that President Larry Dominick work with community members and organizations to pass a Welcoming Cicero Ordinance. Such proposed ordinance by the Welcoming Cicero Coalition would strengthen and reaffirm Larry Dominick’s past commitment to protect all Cicero residents regardless of immigration status and would ensure that these protections exist well beyond the tenure of the current Town officials.

In a Town where so many of it’s residents – over forty-percent of the population was  listed as foreign-born in the 2016 census – are the targets of the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, community members are mobilizing to move their elected officials  to take a strong stance against these attacks. By passing a Welcoming Cicero Ordinance Town President, Larry Dominick, will join other leaders in Chicago suburbs who are willing to stand up to increased threats of immigration enforcement.

This morning the Welcoming Cicero Coalition held a press conference urging the Town President to work with the group to pass a strong ordinance. After the press conference, State Senator Martin Sandoval spoke on behalf of the Town saying that an ordinance is not necessary because the TRUST Act 2 was recently signed at the state level. The TRUST Act, however, only pertains to collaboration between police and ICE. A Welcoming Cicero Ordinance would go further in protecting all Town residents.

The Welcoming Cicero Ordinance currently drafted by the coalition draws on the 2008 resolution to paint a clear dividing line between police and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The draft Welcoming Cicero Ordinance would bar Town officials from contacting, collaborating with, or turning someone to ICE based solely on a person’s immigration status. Furthermore, the ordinance would prohibit denying Town services on the basis of immigration status and would ensure that Town officials be prohibited from using deportations as a threat or form of coercion. It would also prohibit the Town from creating and maintaining a registry program based on national origin or religion, and would strengthen protections for victims of violence who seek and qualify to obtain U and T visa certifications.

“A strong Welcoming Cicero Ordinance is necessary to ensure that Cicero joins other suburbs in protecting town resident’s constitutional rights,” says Irene Romulo, Cicero resident and member of the Welcoming Cicero Coalition. “We need local policies and leaders that can stand up to Trump’s threats to detain and deport so many of our community members. Other cities and suburbs nearby and across the nation have passed similar ordinances, why can’t the Town of Cicero?”

The Welcoming Cicero Coalition includes Cicero residents and ally organizations. Amongst the group members are Healing to Action, Ixchel, Latino Union, Mujeres Latinas en Accion, Pastoral Migratoria, PASO- West Suburban Action Project, and Organized Communities Against Deportations.

Source:  Welcoming Cicero Coalition


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