Naperville proclaims Oct. 28 Immigrants Day following push from five community organizations
Oct. 28 is officially Immigrants Day in Naperville.
A proclamation designating the date, formalized by the Naperville City Council this week, was the result of a community-driven initiative spearheaded by five Naperville-based organizations.
Representatives for all five groups — Alliance of Latinos Motivating Action in the Suburbs, Chinese American Women in Action, First Congregational Church of Naperville, Naperville Neighbors United and Xilin Association — attended the Tuesday night council meeting to witness the edict’s passage.
Councilman Ian Holzhauer read the edict out loud at the meeting.
“The mission of the city of Naperville drives our commitment and responsibility as a local government to provide an inclusive community that values diversity,” the proclamation said.
On behalf of the Latino alliance, known as ALMAS, founding member Diana Torres Hawken thanked the city for the recognition “for all those of us who are here to make a better living for our families,” she said.
“It is an absolute pleasure to be recognized in the city where my children will be third-generation at Naperville Central High School … and also any other immigrant who is here to make Naperville home,” Torres Hawken said.
After receiving the proclamation, Torres Hawken, joined by representatives for the other contributing organizations, stood for a photo. Before getting in line for the shot, she invited other immigrants in the council chambers to join them.
Torres Hawken’s invitation was reflective of what she said she hopes the proclamation promotes — a date on which the community at large can champion inclusivity and diversity and not a measure that’s meaningful just to the groups that helped put it together.
“Yes, (the proclamation) is ceremonial, but what it does do is it allows … all the organizations that represent groups that aren’t normally represented to fortify the missions that we have,” she said in an interview Thursday.
“(It affirms) that we should have a Diwali celebration. We should have an Open Mosque Day. We should have a Day of the Dead event. All these things that we do anyways, we can do with a breath of relief because the city understands why we do these things and why we need to do them.”
More than 21% of Naperville’s residents were born outside of the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making up a population of 32,337 foreign-born individuals.
Torres Hawken, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Colombia in 1987, began looking into a Naperville Immigrants Day proclamation last month. The proclamation is inspired by National Immigrants Day, celebrated on Oct. 28 every year as first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987.
While Torres Hawken’s push for a locally-recognized Immigrants Day started weeks ago, she acknowledged the proclamation was a particularly timely addition to the council’s agenda Tuesday night as tensions from the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East continue to echo around the world.
Last Saturday, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was killed and his mother seriously injured at their home in unincorporated Plainfield, not far from Naperville, after both were stabbed multiple times by their landlord. Wadea Al-Fayoume was laid to rest Monday.
The attack was an alleged hate crime. According to prosecutors, Joseph Czuba, of Plainfield, attacked his tenants after listening to conservative talk radio and becoming “heavily interested” in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Wadea’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, moved to the United States 12 years ago and his father followed three years later, both escaping conflict in the Middle East, according to relatives. The parents are originally from the city of Beitunia in Palestine’s West Bank.
Torres Hawken said the days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel have been a time “when we’re seeing what humanity is really capable of,” making moments like Tuesday’s proclamation all the more important.
“To have that shimmer of hope of seeing our Naperville community being more accepting of differences is a beautiful thing,” she said.
Other organizers offered similar sentiments Tuesday night.
“We know that many in our community are hurting right now,” said Saily Joshi, executive director of Naperville Neighbors United. “Whether you came here last week or you came here generations ago, we want you to know that you are welcome, you’re seen, you’re heard, you’re valued, and this is a beacon of hope for all of us that we will live together as one human race.”
Minutes before Joshi spoke, Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli opened Tuesday’s meeting by condemning the brutal attack on Al-Fayoume and his mother.
“As we mourn Wadea and this senseless act of violence, we must continue to remember that communities are stronger together,” he said. “We are a community enriched by the vibrant mixture of perspectives, backgrounds, cultures, experiences, customs and life experiences of our nearly 150,000 residents. These are not differences to be exploited during times of tension but attributes that facilitate fellowship and kindness and hope for a fuller, richer tomorrow.
“As we conduct our affairs as representatives of our city, and as we all live as neighbors, we can and should focus on one another. If something’s wrong, let us try to right it. If someone is in pain, let us work to bring healing. May we find the strength and courage to care for one another, to love and to persevere.”
He paused for a moment of silence in Wadea’s memory.
People around the council chambers bowed their heads. The room went quiet.
Chicago Tribune reporter Adriana Pérez contributed.
