Resolution to declare Washington County a “Welcoming Community” failed to receive a majority of Quorum Court votes. Beth Coger, Justice of the Peace for Washington County District 9, wrote in her weekly newsletter that “up until the final vote, [she] remained hopeful, especially after the majority succeed in removing key language form the resolution” that essentially left the resolution “welcoming” in name only. According to JP Coger’s weekly newsletter, JP Lyons proposed a motion that resulted in the removal of “immigrants, refugees, and LGBTQ+” from the resolution, marginalized communities which JP Coger intentionally sought to support with the resolution. Though disappointed, JP Coger had decided that “a weakened version of the resolution was better than nothing.” However, JP Shawndra Washington (District 8) who had spoken “frequently in favor of the resolution in both committee and full court meetings” voted against the weakened resolution. Justices of the Peace Vladimir Lopez, Robert Massingill, Beth Coger, Suki Highers, Evelyn Rios-Stafford, and Gary Ricker all voted in favor of the resolution. Though the majority voted to remove support for these particular groups, and thus had the votes to pass the resolution to declare Washington County a Welcoming Community, the majority of Justices of the Peace voted against the resolution.

JP Lisa Ecke, Justice of the Peace for the district where many Marshallese residents live in Springdale, claimed that immigrant communities are already welcomed and included in Washington County referencing the community events hosted at The Jones Center, folk lore and “Spanish” dances performed at celebrations, and the soccer fields “covered, covered with our immigrant community.” She also claimed that the the goals of the resolution are already a reality per the duty of law enforcement to keep everybody safe. Her greatest concern that the resolution would be in opposition to the state’s ban on sanctuary cities. JP Suki Highers said: “There’s a lot of pearl clutching going on here for six words. This is a resolution that is saying that we are a Welcoming Community and it’s being twisted up like a pretzel. …if we believed in limiting government then we never would have taken the time to pass [a resolution to be] a pro-life community a few years ago. …just because you personally have not experienced [apprehension to call law enforcement and emergency responders] does not mean it is not real. People in our community are experiencing these things.” JP Vladimir Lopez added to that testifying to the experiences of his constituents saying that they do not feel comfortable accessing emergency services due to the immigrant status, English-speaking abilities, or their ethnic background. “This is not a binding resolution where I’m asking anyone to take the law and change it. But, there is an attitude that we would like to approach every person who lives in Washington County with a certain affirmation of their dignity.”  

Certified Welcoming is a formal designation for cities and counties that have created policies and programs reflecting their values and commitment to immigrant inclusion. This innovative program assesses city and county governments on their efforts to include and welcome immigrants in all areas of civic, social, and economic life in their communities. JP Beth Coger’s intent in the proposed resolution aspired to the standards other communities have set for inclusion of all groups of people. For example, Welcoming America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides resources for communities focused on creating welcoming policies, has suggested standards for inclusivity in the areas of: civic engagement, connected communities, economic development, education, equitable access, government and community leadership, and safe communities. A Welcoming Community would support programs that provide language accessible information for services as well as their rights in education, healthcare, and workforce, that address barriers to navigating various systems for social services, that support job seekers in finding and obtaining employment and communication or addressing barriers for entrepreneurs and business owners, and/or have programs and policies in place to build trust and mutual understanding between local law enforcement agencies and minority communities and minority-serving organizations. In particular, the resolution proposed by JP Beth Coger identified immigrant, refugees, and LGBTQ+ communities as minority groups that are ignored or not fully included in Washington county programs and policies.