Chicago City contractors must disclose immigration enforcement work starting in 2027

The City Council voted 50-0 on Sept. 23 to make City contractors file public affidavits listing any immigration enforcement contracts since 2003.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 16, 2026

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward), inset, moves passage of the immigration enforcement disclosure ordinance at the City Council, Sept. 23, 2026City of Chicago video

Companies that do business with the City of Chicago will soon have to say, in a sworn public filing, whether they have ever worked for an agency that enforces civil immigration laws.

The City Council passed the Civil Immigration Enforcement Disclosure ordinance, SO2025-0021035, on Sept. 23 by a vote of 50 to 0. Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) sponsored it with Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward), Ald. Timothy Knudsen (43rd Ward) and Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th Ward). It adds Section 2-92-587 to the Municipal Code and takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

What does a contractor have to disclose?

Any contractor that enters a contract under the authority of the Chief Procurement Officer that is solicited, or awarded without solicitation, on or after Jan. 1, 2027, must submit an affidavit identifying every past or present contract related to civil immigration enforcement that it has entered into since Jan. 1, 2003, with any agency that enforces civil immigration laws. At minimum the affidavit names the contracting agency, describes the goods or services, gives the dollar amount and term of the contract, and includes whatever else the Chief Procurement Officer requires by rule.

A few timing rules soften the paperwork. For a contract awarded through the City's small orders process, the affidavit is due within 30 calendar days after the award. For an emergency procurement, the Chief Procurement Officer may defer it as long as the affidavit arrives within 120 days. If federal law prohibits disclosing something, the contractor does not have to disclose it, but must state the basis for withholding.

The requirement becomes part of every contract the section applies to. Contractors must update the affidavit when a contract is renewed or extended. If a contractor fails to file, or knowingly makes a materially false statement or omission, and does not fix it within 30 days of written notice from the Chief Procurement Officer, the contract becomes voidable at the City's option.

Who gets to see the affidavits?

Everyone. The Chief Procurement Officer must make the affidavits available to the public on an ongoing basis, updated at least once a year, in formats the ordinance describes as easily accessible and searchable. Starting no later than March 1, 2028, and every March 1 after that, the officer must report to the City Council how many affidavits came in the previous year and which contractors disclosed contracts with immigration enforcement agencies.

One line matters as much as the disclosure itself. Section (f) says nothing in the section may be read to prohibit or restrict the award of a contract to anyone on the basis of what they disclose. The ordinance makes the information public; it does not bar any company from City work.

What happened in committee?

The ordinance was introduced Nov. 14, 2025, and sat in the Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity until Sept. 22, 2026, the day before the Council vote, when the committee accepted a substitute and recommended it.

Our notes on that meeting show La Spata presenting the measure as a transparency tool rather than a sanction: disclosure leads to transparency and accountability, he said, and the ordinance does not cancel or restrict contracts. He described the affidavits as publicly accessible and called the measure cost neutral. Asked by the committee's chair, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward), what changed between the original and the substitute, La Spata said the carve-outs were requested by the administration, including the delayed affidavits for emergency and small orders and the option to withhold information with a stated reason.

Public comment at the committee ran mostly in favor. Several speakers urged members to pass it, one calling it a modest measure that applies only to contracts from 2027 on, and one asking the Chief Procurement Officer to define what counts as related to civil immigration enforcement so the rule has no loophole. One speaker questioned the Council's priorities on contracting and immigration.

How did the vote go?

At the Sept. 23 Council meeting, Mitts reported the committee's items. The disclosure ordinance was item two. It passed by the same roll call the Council used for the first item of the Finance Committee report, which recorded all 50 alderpersons as yes, with the usual unsuccessful motion to reconsider by Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7th Ward). No alderperson spoke on it from the floor, and the Council moved on in under half a minute.

How each ward voted

50 yea · Sep 23, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay

SO2025-0021035: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

What it means on your block

If you run a business that contracts with the City, or plan to bid, expect a new form with your next solicited contract after Jan. 1, 2027. The look-back runs to 2003, and the filing has to be refreshed when the contract is renewed or extended. The Chief Procurement Officer will write rules for the details; they are not out yet.
If you want to know who the City is paying, the affidavits will be posted publicly, updated at least yearly, and the Council gets a yearly count starting March 1, 2028.
The ordinance does not block any contract. A disclosure cannot be the basis for denying an award.
What the record does not say: how many current City contractors have immigration enforcement work in their history, or what the disclosure will cost to administer. La Spata called it cost neutral; no City estimate appears in the record.