Chicago aldermen sign 'ICE Out' pledge demanding officials reject money tied to immigration enforcement

Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune on Jul 21, 2026

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CHICAGO — A dozen progressive aldermen have signed on to a demand for their colleagues to reject contributions from corporations tied to federal immigration enforcement, in the latest political fallout over the recent U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement presence in Chicago.

The “ICE Out of Chicago Elections” campaign debuted on Tuesday with 12 members of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus joining the pledge to refuse all future contributions from a list of corporations and political committees they say “enable brutal immigration enforcement tactics.”

The campaign, aimed at other members of the council, comes after last fall’s Operation Midway Blitz pummeled Chicago with aggressive deportations and sparked citywide grassroots demonstrations against ICE as well as U.S Customs and Border Protection.

The immigration crackdown also became a cudgel in the Democratic primaries this March, when the party’s left and moderate wings fought over how leadership can best stand up to President Donald Trump.

“This immigration enforcement campaign is only possible with the assistance of private industry,” the pledge reads. “Private companies profit by providing agents with housing, cars, technology, and more. Some of those same companies want to curry favor in Chicago’s elections and win more government contracts that use our tax dollars.”

The eleven companies and one PAC singled out by “ICE Out of Chicago” are: Motorola Solutions, Waste Management and Stericycle, Target, SP+Parking, Home Depot, Amazon, FedEx, Microsoft, Dell, Deloitte, Ean Holdings (Enterprise, National and Alamo) and the Illinois Hotel & Motel PAC. For the last name, the pledge says Marriott and Hilton “allow immigration agents to stay at their properties.” The list can change depending on the companies’ contracts and policies.

The ICE Out campaign was organized by an existing local group in support of the Chicago Fair Elections Ordinance, which would allow political campaigns to benefit from public funding. Members of that coalition include the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Reform for Illinois, the League of Women Voters of Chicago, The People’s Lobby and Asian American Midwest Progressives.

“Chicagoans, like many Americans, are paying close attention to how elected officials respond to ICE’s actions and Trump’s dangerous immigration agenda,” Ald. Anthony Quezada, 35th, told the Tribune in a statement. “Voters want leaders who are willing to stand up for our communities and act consistently with their values. That’s why I believe many Chicagoans will expect their representatives to reject contributions from companies that support or profit from ICE and Border Patrol operations.”

Though the White House’s deportation tactics have been widely unpopular in Chicago, Democrats have differed on how to respond.

Some candidates on the left have taken stronger stances in an effort to distinguish themselves as fierce opponents of Trump — such as when Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Juliana Stratton embraced the “Abolish ICE” movement and hammered her primary opponent U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi for a past contribution tied to Palantir Technologies, which has contracts with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In the City Council, moderates have countered that local government does not have the authority to fully stop Trump’s actions, and officials should focus on finding common ground with the federal government rather than antagonize it. Mayor Brandon Johnson, for his part, has signed a spate of executive orders aimed at reining in DHS including and up to directing Chicago police to investigate federal agents for misconduct, though no such criminal case has been brought forth for charges yet.

Last week, the Tribune also reported that downtown Ald. Bill Conway has a financial stake in the contractor that runs ICE’s biggest detention camp. GrizzlyRock Capital LLC, a private investment firm, has $7.5 million invested in Amentum Holdings, a massive government contractor that now runs Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, according to a Tribune analysis.

Kyle Mowery, GrizzlyRock’s manager, is a close political ally of Conway’s and contributed $52,000 to his campaigns, campaign finance records show.

In response, a Conway spokesperson said the 34th Ward alderman had been unaware of the GrizzlyRock investment in Amentum and “recommended that GrizzlyRock sell their shares because they should not be invested in a company helping carry out the Trump administration’s reprehensible immigration actions.”

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