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Cook County board amends Human Rights Ordinance to add linguistic characteristics to national origin protections
Summary
The Cook County Board approved an amendment to the county Human Rights Ordinance adding linguistic characteristics to the definition of national origin after public testimony from immigrant-rights and community groups.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners on March 12 approved an amendment to the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance to explicitly include linguistic characteristics as part of the definition of national origin.
The change, recommended by the Human Relations Committee and moved on the floor by Commissioner Shawn Morrison (second not specified), was adopted after public commenters described language barriers faced by immigrant communities. Supporters said the amendment would give low–English-proficient residents a clearer path to file discrimination complaints under the county ordinance.
The amendment matters because county leaders said it would make enforcement of discrimination protections more accessible to residents who speak limited English or non-English languages. Grace Pye, executive director…
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