Oak Park, IL Immigration Policy: Sanctuary Policy Preemption (2026)

Article 7 of Chapter 13 (Human Rights) sets out the Village's Welcoming Village policy. Section 13-7-2 bars any Village agent or agency from requesting information about, investigating, or assisting in investigating a person's citizenship or immigration status unless a court orders it; the Village Attorney may still investigate status when relevant to actual or potential litigation involving the Village. Section 13-7-3 prohibits coercing or verbally abusing anyone, including their family members, based on real or perceived citizenship or immigration status, defining 'family member' broadly to include in-laws, grandparents, and domestic partners.

Section 13-7-4 bars conditioning Village benefits, services, or opportunities on immigration status and requires the Village to strip citizenship questions from its own applications and interview forms, except for federally mandated I-9 forms. Section 13-7-5 is the core detainer policy: no agent may stop, arrest, or continue detaining someone based solely on an ICE detainer, an administrative warrant, or a belief the person lacks legal status once that person becomes eligible for release; the Village will not accept ICE requests to assist enforcement operations, will not sign a 1357(g) agreement letting local staff enforce federal immigration law, and, absent a valid criminal warrant, will not give ICE agents access to a detainee, transfer anyone into ICE custody, or let ICE use Village databases or equipment.

No Village-owned parking lot, garage, or vacant lot may serve as an ICE staging or processing area. Section 13-7-6 bars staff from helping build a federal registry of residents by ancestry, national origin, or religion. The ordinance was adopted by Ord. 17-180 on February 6, 2017, and amended by Ord. 25-204 on November 4, 2025.