A recent FOIA request to the City of Chicago finds a traditional Democrat donor has received favored status via contracts with the City of Chicago to feed illegals from 2022 – 2024. Terry Newsome of Behind Enemy Lines podcast, made a FOIA request in October of 2024 seeking the following information shown in the request below.
The City of Chicago sent back details of contracts between the City of Chicago and a food service company called Open Kitchens. In these contracts, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are listed as a source for funding an Illinois program called the Emergency Food and Shelter program.
According to Illinois Policy, the emergency program is part of an “emergency services” fund under Illinois Human Services funding that saw the largest budget increase in the state due to the migrant crisis. According to the City of Chicago’s records the city has spent over $570 million on “new arrivals.”
This emergency is now the burden of the taxpayer as Illinois remains defiant about its sanctuary status with a pending Trump Administration threatening deportations. Governor Pritzker has openly inferred that he will resist the Federal Government’s attempts at deportation.
City of Chicago and Open Kitchens Contract:
Note the FEMA award amount above approaches $5.5 million. This Federal government assistance to feed illegals is only a portion of the $16.6 million committed to Open Kitchens by the City of Chicago between October of 2022 and December of 2024. The maximum amount compensated for this program is $19.8 million.
Find the details of these contracts at the Behind Enemy Lines website here.
Open Kitchens, a private food service company, has an interesting donation and service history with Illinois Democrat politicians and organizations. According to Illinois Sunshine, a nonprofit tracking Illinois political contribution, Open Kitchens has donated to multiple Democrat political candidates. That list includes Alexi Giannoulias, the current Secretary of State for Illinois.
The list also includes expenditures from candidate campaigns to Open Kitchens for services. The most recent expenditure was in 2024 from Mattie Hunter, a Democrat Illinois State Senator from the 3rd district. The latest payment made was for over $10K for “Fundraising Expenses,” whatever that means. It should be noted that Illinois is majority Democrat. Democrats have won the last two Gubernatorial races and hold over half representation in each legislative body.
There is nothing wrong with a private company being contracted by the government for services. The government provides itself budgetary allocations for many services be it cleaning, food, or otherwise. The immediate concern is this issue of ‘favored status’ amongst different groups. It is widely reported that non-citizens are being afforded taxpayer funding for food, phones, shelter, clothing, etc. Meanwhile, homeless – including veterans – line the streets of Chicago as the winter looms.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that House Democrats in the Chicago Federal Delegation had requested FEMA funding to assist non-citizens at the expense of their own constituents. In that article it was noted that Illinois had amended a previous law making it a civil rights violation for property owners to discriminate on the basis of “immigration status.” It is well documented that these non-citizens are housed at these locations via funding from the state and federal government, in other words, the taxpayer.
Now, the State Government is showing certain vendors favorable status in serving a population the State imported at the expense of the taxpayer without their approval. This evidence clearly indicates the egregious overreach of an out-of-control Illinois State Government working in concert with the Federal Government, to contravene private commerce in two different domains. When the government gets too big and becomes involved in private commerce, especially private property, a reform movement is long overdue. Tom Homan’s presence in Illinois will be welcomed with open arms by many.
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