Chicago mayor demands contractors reflect diversity, reveal ICE ties — DHS fires back

BS BULLETIN:

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new executive order requires city contractors to disclose certain government and law-enforcement business — potentially exposing companies that also work with ICE.
Big companies must also provide information about the racial and gender makeup of their leadership and boards, as Johnson says city contractors should “reflect the diversity” of Chicago taxpayers.
DHS fired back Sunday, calling Johnson a “sanctuary politician who bullies American companies” and promising ICE enforcement will continue “whether City Hall likes it or not.”

Want to do business with Chicago?

Mayor Brandon Johnson would like to know who else you’re doing business with. And while you’re filling out the paperwork, he’d also like a look at who’s running your company.

Johnson’s latest executive order imposes sweeping new disclosure requirements on companies seeking city contracts, including information about certain work for government and law-enforcement agencies and, for some large companies, the demographics of corporate leadership.

“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 said while announcing the order Wednesday.

Chicago Mayor Johnson’s new order:

“If you want to do business with this city we must know if your company leaders reflect diversity” pic.twitter.com/PKGvKF6FSc

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 28, 2026

DHS was unimpressed.

“If Mayor Johnson wants to lecture anyone about taxpayer dollars, remember what he is: a sanctuary politician who bullies American companies with money that isn’t his,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital Sunday. “Chicago takes the federal check, but it won’t enforce the federal law.”

Then came the warning.

“Make no mistake, we will not be deterred,” the spokesperson said. “Under President Trump, ICE will keep enforcing the law in Chicago, whether City Hall likes it or not.”

The immigration angle isn’t accidental. Johnson unveiled the order alongside advocates from the “Not With Our Money” campaign, which says 42 companies holding a combined $3.19 billion in Chicago contracts also do business with ICE.

The mayor says Chicago can’t control what happens in Washington, but it can control where its own money goes.

“We are using the enormous purchasing power of the city of Chicago to put our values into practice,” Johnson said when signing the order.

That includes requiring contractors and subcontractors to disclose whether they’ve received more than $500,000 from government or law-enforcement agencies and whether they’ve faced certain proceedings alleging excessive force, unlawful detention, unconstitutional policing, discrimination or other civil-rights violations.

And then there’s the diversity component.

Large private companies meeting the order’s financial threshold will have to provide information about leadership demographics, board composition and diversity policies when that information isn’t already covered by Illinois reporting requirements.

Johnson presented that as a direct response to the Trump administration’s retreat from federal diversity reporting.

“Well, not in Chicago,” Johnson said.

We already are. He knows it’s illegal. This is virtue signaling. https://t.co/btIXbfiBDp

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) August 29, 2026

Doing business with ICE by itself isn’t listed as an offense that automatically disqualifies a contractor. But companies will have to disclose qualifying government business, while the city develops rules barring vendors found to have committed specified public-integrity, workplace-discrimination or wage-theft violations during the previous five years.

Even one Chicago Democrat sees a problem. Alderman Ray Lopez argued that Johnson is adding yet another layer of bureaucracy for businesses trying to work with the city. “When you have a mayor and an administration that says we’re going to cut the red tape, this is the exact opposite of cutting the red tape,” Lopez told Fox.

The Daily BS reported when Johnson signed the order last week that critics were already questioning why City Hall was demanding more transparency from private businesses while Chicago taxpayers continue asking questions about the city’s own spending.

Now DHS has joined the fight.

Johnson wants contractors to disclose who’s paying them, who runs them, and whether their leadership reflects Chicago’s diversity. ICE’s answer is considerably shorter: See you in Chicago.

DBS WIRE SOURCES