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MAYORAL PROCLAMATION
NOVEMBER 3, 2025
A PROCLAMATION OF THE MAYOR, CALLING ON WEST CHICAGO TO
LAUNCH “IMMIGRANTS ARE ESSENTIAL” MONTH.
WHEREAS, West Chicago, since its founding, has been built by immigrant
communities, including large numbers from Ireland, Germany, Mexico and many other nations
and where their labor was instrumental in building the railroads, schools, businesses, churches,
and community organizations which form the fabric of our City today; and
WHEREAS, our immigrant families have, in every generation, faced steep personal and
institutional obstacles to their success, including financial disadvantage, racial prejudice,
redlining, language barriers, xenophobia, cultural misunderstandings, and more; and
WHEREAS, immigrant families have produced teachers, firefighters, police officers,
doctors, nurses, and caretakers and where established restaurants, shops, and businesses of all
kinds and where they have contributed to our schools and churches, created music and fine arts,
and enriched the life of our community in countless ways, all while overcoming obstacles to
feed, provide for, and educate their children; and
WHEREAS, 39 individuals from our immigrant community have been detained in civil
immigration actions by federal agents in the last 48 days, including a citizen and a legal resident,
and where 37 of those individuals remain separated from our community and where the Supreme
Court has recently reversed itself allowing the stopping and questioning of individuals based on
the color of their skin or their type of employment where many of our people both documented
and undocumented fear to leave their homes on account of these actions and where hundreds of
West Chicago residents from all walks of life have taken to the streets to protest such measures
in recent months; and
WHEREAS, many immigrant families are afraid to leave their homes, and many
children are going hungry, missing school, or suffering panic attacks fearing that their parents
will be taken away from them; and
WHEREAS, the fear of leaving home has caused great harm to small businesses in West
Chicago, many of whom are reporting 40-60% drops in revenue since mid-September, and where
some of our largest businesses are impacted and have even suffered temporary closures and
where many local businesses rely on the support of our immigrant community and are now
suffering potentially irreparable harm; and
WHEREAS, it is probable that every resident of West Chicago can count immigrants
among their ancestors, and every one of us is the beneficiary of blessings and grace which we did
not deserve or earn alone;

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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That I, Daniel Bovey, Mayor of the City of West
Chicago, proclaim support for and solidarity with our immigrant community. I call on all fellow
residents, citizens, and elected representatives to recognize that immigrants are, and always have
been, essential to our community.
I call on all residents of West Chicago, who are of like mind, to display signage affirming their
support for our immigrant neighbors and friends, and to proclaim by that signage that immigrants
are essential to and welcome in our town.
I call on all residents of West Chicago to seek out material ways to support first and second
generation immigrants who are our neighbors, classmates, business partners, customers, service
providers, friends, and fellow congregants, by donating time and resources to food pantries,
community organizations, and churches that support the immigrant community and by funneling
their personal and business spending to locally owned businesses.
I call on all residents who possess the wherewithal to eat out or hire services to purposefully
frequent locally owned establishments and businesses rooted in our immigrant community. I
encourage every resident to shop at locally owned small businesses and encourage others to do
the same, recognizing that the loss of these establishments would do great harm to our city.
I call on all local governing bodies to find ways to protect and support our immigrant community
in this time of hardship and I call on this council to unite in the ratification of this declaration
through the adoption of a similar resolution at our next council meeting and by declaring the
remainder of November and the month of December as “Immigrants are Essential” months.
PROCLAIMED this 3" day of November, 2025.
Daniel Bovey, Mayor of Chicago