Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has introduced an executive order that mandates city contractors to disclose leadership diversity demographics and potential links to law enforcement agencies, such as ICE. This decision aims to leverage the city’s purchasing power to establish new standards in contracting.
Johnson emphasized the necessity of workplace data for identifying discrimination and criticized the Trump administration’s attempts to eliminate federal reporting mandates. “If you want to do business with this city, we want to know whether the people leading your company reflect the diversity of the communities whose tax dollars are paying your contracts,” Johnson stated.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Johnson of penalizing American companies that support federal immigration enforcement. A DHS spokesperson expressed their concerns, stating that Johnson is a “sanctuary politician” who pressures American companies. “Chicago takes the federal check, but it won’t enforce the federal law,” they added, while asserting ICE’s continued law enforcement commitments in Chicago.
Johnson unveiled this executive order during a press conference at Arise Chicago, a nonprofit advocating for immigrant rights. He portrayed the order as a countermeasure to corporate influence in Washington, using city spending to manifest its values.
Additionally, the order instructs Chicago’s chief procurement officer to formulate rules preventing vendors with violations related to public integrity, workplace discrimination, or wage theft from receiving contracts. Contractors must report if they obtained over $500,000 from government or law enforcement bodies or if they were involved in incidents involving excessive force, unlawful detention, or civil rights breaches.
Larger private companies with at least $1 billion in net income are required to reveal details about leadership diversity, board makeup, and diversity policies, in line with or exceeding Illinois reporting laws. The order obliges these companies to disclose efforts to employ and promote formerly incarcerated individuals, with annual updates on progress.
The act of doing business with ICE is not automatically disqualifying. However, the order does bar companies with integrity, discrimination, or wage theft violations, ensuring these disclosures are accessible to the public.
The campaign supporting Johnson’s order reported that $3.19 billion in Chicago contracts are held by 42 companies also working with ICE. Johnson referred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s intent to remove annual EEO reports, which EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas argued could impede equal employment law enforcement.
This order is Johnson’s latest point of contention with federal immigration authorities. Previously, in October, he prohibited ICE from utilizing city parking facilities for their operations, which federal agents claimed increased operational risks. According to DHS, Operation Midway Blitz led to over 4,500 arrests by December.
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