Brandon Johnson adds DEI leadership requirement to city contracts, demands disclosure of ICE compliance

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is demanding that companies disclose if their leaders "reflect diversity" if they are taking on city contracts in a new executive order. The order outlines disclosure requirements for DEI, if companies work with ICE, and other standards for new city contracts.

Johnson has claimed that the information is needed to combat discrimination and he was critical of the Trump administration's position to end federal reporting requirements on demographics. "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.

The move drew a response from the Department of Homeland Security. "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. Chicago takes the federal check, but it won’t enforce the federal law," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. "In case Chicago’s mayor forgot, an oath of office is a commitment to upholding the law, not encouraging criminal illegal aliens to break it."

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

Johnson spoke about the order during a press conference at Arise Chicago, a pro-immigration nonprofit group. The order demands that companies in Chicago who report over $1 billion in net income have to report their leadership diversity as well as their DEI policies that are not already enshrined in Chicago's laws.

The order also requires companies to report when they make efforts to hire those that have been convicted of crimes. Contractors also have to certify that they have not committed “public integrity violation, antidiscrimination or wage theft violation” over the last five years.