Executive Orders

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An executive order (EO) directs the actions of governmental officials and/or outlines policies and procedures for the executive branch to implement and uphold. It can be mandated by a president at the national scale, a governor at the state scale, or a mayor at the municipal scale. The EOs in our archive are all from the municipal scale.

Since the executive branch of government is tasked with crafting and carrying out the law, executive orders are functionally similar to other laws (Anderson 2002; Garner 2014, 690). With this being said, whether or not a municipal EO is properly constructed and thus legally binding depends on to whom the directive is issued and whether or not the City Charter explicitly grants such power to the executive officer. EOs can be overturned or overruled by city council, Congress, or a court.

You can peruse the collection of EOs by scrolling through the policies below or using the filters to sort them by issue date, author, title, or subject. Please note that some of the filters, such as department and graduation year, are not applicable to this project. Also, the title filter only captures the first few letters of a title and the policy titles all begin with the designation of the type of policy so searching within this filter will not be as illustrative as the other filters. Once you click on a filter, you can search within that filter by entering in a place name or a few letters of an author, for instance, and then clicking the browse button.

There are 11 executive orders in our archive. Please note that in the case of San Francisco, the EO was put forth by the city and county of San Francisco. We include this policy in our tally for cities that passed policies.

References: Anderson, L. (2002). Executive orders, “The very definition of tyranny”, and the Congressional solution, the separation of Powers Restoration Act. Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 589, 1–25.

Garner, B. (Ed.) (2014). Black’s law dictionary, tenth edition. Thomson Reuters.

This page was last updated in July 2024.

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Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 1-14: Policy Regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency Detainer Requests
    (2014-04-16) Mayor of the City of Philadelphia [PA]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia orders that no person in the custody of the City who otherwise would be released from custody shall be detained pursuant to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) civil immigration detainer request.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order: Advancing Public Safety and Access to City Services
    (2012) Mayor of the City of Baltimore [MD]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of the City of Baltimore establishes policy that, among other items, dictates that no City Department, agency, officer or employee shall condition the provision of City services or benefits on the immigration status of the individual seeking those services.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 2011-174: Disclosure of Status of Individuals
    (2011-10-19) Mayor of the District of Columbia [D.C.]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of the District of Columbia establishes District-wide policy and procedures concerning the disclosure of immigration status, and in doing so ensures that District resources are not used for federal immigration enforcement activities.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 07-01: Sanctuary City Policy
    (2007-03-01) Office of the Mayor of the City & County of San Francisco [CA]
    In this Executive Order, the Office of the Mayor of the City & County of San Francisco dictates that departments must ensure that departmental rules, regulations, and protocol adhere with San Francisco’s Sanctuary City status and that the Human Rights Commission and the Immigrant Rights Commission of the City and County of San Francisco shall maintain updated versions of these written departmental protocols and shall make them available to the public by request.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 8-09: Policy Concerning Access of Immigrants to City Services
    (2009-11-10) Mayor of the City of Philadelphia [PA]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia dictates that all City services shall be made available to all City of Philadelphia residents regardless of the person's citizenship or legal immigration status, that no City officer or employee, other than law enforcement officers, shall inquire about a person's immigration status (barring specified criteria), and that no City officer or employee shall disclose confidential information (barring specified criteria).
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 04-01: City-Wide Privacy Policy Concerning Immigrant Access to City Services
    (2004-12-22) Mayor of the City of Trenton [NJ]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of the City of Trenton dictates that no person shall be denied any City services or benefits by reason of immigration status, and that confidential information in the possession of City agencies relating to immigration status or other personal or private attributes should be disseminated only as outlined in the order.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 41: City-Wide Privacy Policy and Amendment of Executive Order No. 34
    (2003-09-17) City of New York Office of the Mayor [NY]
    In this Executive Order, the Office of the Mayor of New York dictates that no City officer or employee shall disclose confidential information (barring specified criteria) and amends Executive Order No. 34, dated May 13, 2003.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 34: City Policy Concerning Immigrant Access to City Services
    (2003-05-13) City of New York Office of the Mayor [NY]
    In this Executive Order, the Office of the Mayor of New York revokes Executive Order No. 124 and dictates that a City officer or employee shall not inquire about a person’s immigration status (barring specified criteria).
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 2014-02: An Order Relating to the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Detainers in the City of Holyoke
    (2014-11-19) Mayor of the City of Holyoke [MA]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of the City of Holyoke orders that the Holyoke Police Department shall neither honor nor enforce a civil immigration detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order 2003-2: Matricula Consular Identification Cards
    (2003-05-01) Mayor of the City of Detroit [MI]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of Detroit designates the "Matricula Consular" card, issued by the Mexican Consulate, as a valid form of identification for use by Mexican nationals in dealings between the public and City government.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Executive Order: Executive Policy for Responding to ICE Detainers
    (2014-05-22) Mayor of the City of Somerville [MA]
    In this Executive Order, the Mayor of the City of Somerville explains that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests will not be honored unless specific criteria are met.