Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is asking his state’s pension funds and procurement agencies to examine any investments or contracts they have with companies in El Salvador, the first step toward a possible boycott of the country for assisting President Donald Trump in defying court orders on the treatment of migrants.
In a statement, Pritzker indicated the moves were in response to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s willingness to help Trump deny due process to hundreds of migrants deported to El Salvador and now held in a notoriously dangerous maximum-security prison with no potential of release.
“The United States Constitution guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power,” Pritzker said. “The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power stop the Trump Administration from ripping apart our most basic rights.”
The governor’s move continues his strategy of aggressively confronting Trump’s administration and its allies, a contrast to other governors who have pursued a more conciliatory approach. Pritzker, a billionaire businessman whose family owns the Hyatt chain of hotels, is seen as a likely 2028 presidential candidate.
Pritzker is ordering his state’s pension funds, which hold a combined $200 billion in assets and investments, to investigate whether the funds are invested in any companies owned by the government of El Salvador or companies headquartered in the country.
He’s also asked the state’s procurement agency to examine whether the state has any contracts with El Salvador-based companies, and asked its trade office to examine the extent of trade between El Salvador and Illinois to determine what imports the country sends to the Midwestern state and whether El Salvador provides any goods included in the supply chains of Illinois-based manufacturers.
Pushing states or cities to boycott or disinvest from certain companies and countries as a form of foreign policy is not a new idea: 26 states participated in the divestment campaign against South Africa in the 1980s, and more recently states including Illinois have refused to do business with companies based in Russia or Belarus following the former country’s invasion of Ukraine and have also boycotted companies that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.
Pritzker allies are hopeful the move can inspire other states to announce similar plans. “This is a clear moment when the rights of every American in every state are under attack,” a source close to the governor’s office said. “We are hopeful other states considering similar actions step up and join in pushing Trump and El Salvador to follow the law. We need more voices to sound the alarm and apply pressure.”
Bukele, an authoritarian who has centralized power in the small Central American nation, appeared with Trump in the Oval Office last week and insisted he had no power to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, despite a Supreme Court order requiring the U.S. government to “facilitate” Garcia’s return.
Trump’s administration deported Garcia, who came to the United States illegally, to El Salvador despite a standing court order he could not be deported to the country. A Justice Department lawyer admitted the deportation was due to an “administrative error.”
Democrats have rallied around the cause of returning Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration has alleged with minimal evidence is a member of the MS-13 gang. A YouGov/Economist poll released Wednesday found 50% of Americans want Trump to return Abrego Garcia to the United States, while 28% don’t want him returned and 22% are unsure.
Trump has also spoken about deporting American citizens to El Salvador.
“The homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You’ve got to build about five more places,” Trump told Bukele before their meeting in the Oval Office, asking him to build more prisons.