Compassionate City

Union City is one of the most diverse cities in California, comprised of many different cultural, racial, ethnic, and religious groups who live together in peace and are tolerant of one another. A unique feature of our small-knit community is that we are unified through our diversity, and our community shares a commitment to our core values of safety, tolerance, and caring.

These core values would not be possible without the support of our residents, and we are thankful for the unyielding strength and compassion of the people in our city. We urge our community to continue to demonstrate compassion, caring, and the commitment to peace that makes Union City a safe place to live.

Our community is represented by a diverse City Council who work to set direction for the City with a focus on inclusion, community health and public safety. This ensures that all of our residents have access to a high quality of life and feel safe in our homes, schools, businesses, and public spaces. 

In May 2017, the City Council unanimously voted to declare Union City a Compassionate City to protect our residents. The Compassionate City resolution builds on existing policies to clearly articulate the City's position related to federal immigration policy.

The resolution is the result of weeks of outreach and policy vetting led by the Human Relations Commission. At the conclusion of their outreach, the commissioners determined that a Compassionate City resolution was in the best interest of our residents, and would demonstrate that Union City is committed to being free of prejudice and discrimination.

union-city-unity-v2_original

Being a Compassionate City means:

  • Our policy and practice of treating everyone equally, without regard to race, color, national origin, or immigration status, is unchanged, and will remain as strong as it has always been.
  • We affirm that we have no legal authority to partner with federal authorities to enforce federal civil immigration law.
  • We continue to encourage people to engage with us, freely access city services, and be free of fear in reporting crime to us, regardless of your immigration status.

If you have personally witnessed or experienced intolerance, discrimination or hate toward anyone in our community, please contact the Human Relations Commission by phone at (510) 675-5400 or by email to uchrccommissioners@unioncity.org. Your message is confidential. Another option is to report it to the Alameda County District Attorney’s hotline for hate-related crimes at (510) 208-4824.