The 25th Ward Independent Political Organization calls on Mayor Brandon Johnson to cancel the contract signed by the City of Chicago with private security contractor GardaWorld. Additionally, the 25th Ward IPO calls on President Joe Biden, and Governor Prtizker to provide significant financial resources for the City of Chicago to house and care for our new neighbors.

In 2022, our IPO decided that we would canvass, raise money for, and endorse now Mayor Brandon Johnson as he fought an incumbent and crowded field of candidates advocating to continue a neoliberal status quo that focused on the privatization of public services, the dependence on continuing and exacerbating our police state, and the lack of care for the unhoused and other vulnerable populations. To this day, we believe that supporting Brandon Johnson was the right choice.

Part of our movement includes the radical understanding that our job is not simply to elect and subsequently stand by, but to most importantly co-govern with our movement-elected officials. It would be easy, and expected for IPOs like our own to stay silent or even support decisions that do not align with our values for the sake of political expedience. However, for the sake of what is right and what is just, we cannot.

GardaWorld has come under well deserved fire for its history of mistreatment and abuse of people held in immigration detention, and employment of former child soldiers. As a ward that represents a majority Latiné population, and an organization of primarily Latiné members, we must call out what we see as a potentially dangerous and unsafe situation for our new neighbors.

We recognize the immense pressure the administration is under to act quickly and get our new neighbors out of inhumane conditions in police stations, and we sincerely applaud their measures to create brick and mortar housing for new neighbors that have needed respite. We know that solutions are limited and remain committed to support the administration in any way that we can as our community has done many times with mutual aid efforts such as the shelter provided by Todo Para Todos, and the work of mutual aid organizations for new neighbors at the 12th district police station.

We also know from our recent history, that the administration is being presented with challenges brought on by the Lightfoot administration’s unwillingness to take this issue seriously.

However, we believe a contract that allows for a private security company with internationally recognized human rights abuses should not be charged with caring for any vulnerable population in the United States, let alone individuals and families who have newly arrived to this country with little to no network of support.

President Biden, and Governor Pritzker, also have a role to play. Cities like Chicago cannot be expected to do this alone, and significant resources need to be expended to support Chicago in being able to rapidly house as many new neighbors as possible. Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago have made strong efforts to live out it’s status as a sanctuary city while other cities have shirked their responsibilities.

We support our comrades in the 33rd Ward Working Families in the call for radical transparency. This movement needs to be clear-eyed and presented with the same information that our city’s leadership has to understand why it makes the decisions it does. In this moment, our organization feels called to ask: has every stone actually been unturned? Is this really the only option? If so, why is our only option hiring an organization with despicable alleged human rights violations? What can we do in this moment to ensure that we do not allow for even the potential of harm to come to those in our care? What can the City of Chicago adapt, learn from and model after community-run efforts like the Todo Para Todos shelter in order to center care, dignity, cooperation and solidarity under such difficult circumstances?

This is an opportunity for the Johnson administration to bring in all stakeholders to assist in deciding what happens in both the short and long term. The city can use this moment to determine not only how we support our new neighbors now, but also how we transform our social safety net with public housing to build a more just and equitable future.

We trust that the administration will make the right decision and listen to those who care for our new neighbors every day. We trust that the administration will hear the righteous anger and opposition to the despicable institution that is GardaWorld. Ultimately, we trust that the administration will listen to those who want to see it succeed.

Hasta la Victoria Siempre,
25th Ward Independent Political Organization Steering Committee