Another legal defeat was handed to Donald Trump, Feb. 9, as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his administration's request for the reinstatement of the executive order banning immigrants from seven Arab, African, or Muslim-majority countries. Late last week, a Seattle judge had instituted a nationwide restraining order against the Muslim ban, which halted its implementation across the entire U.S.

“It cannot be overstated that this victory was won because of protest and ‘Unity in Resistance,’ our theme these past few weeks,” said Muhammad Sankari of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN). “The tens of thousands of people that took to the streets and airports across the U.S. provided the conditions for this legal victory.”

It is anticipated that Trump will continue to fight the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

At the Oak Park Village Hall on Feb. 6, the AAAN joined PASO-West Suburban Action Project and a standing room-only crowd to witness another unanimous vote – this one passing the strongest Welcoming Village ordinance in all of Illinois. After months of negotiations between a PASO-led coalition and the Oak Lawn Board of Trustees, led by Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb, a Palestinian immigrant from Gaza who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, the vote ensured that “no village agency or employee is permitted to accept requests by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or other agencies to support or assist in any capacity with immigration enforcement operations,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Only a properly issued criminal warrant will allow Oak Park to transfer any person into ICE custody.

The ordinance also states that village employees or agencies cannot assist with the “creation, publication or maintenance of any federal program to register individuals present in the United States based on their ancestry, national origin or religion.”

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