Prairie State Wire

As part of Prairie State Wire's new "Illinois DOGE" series, we will profile Illinois "non-profit" organizations that receive all or an overwhelming majority of their funding from government/taxpayers to provide services the state also provides.

See our first installment profile of Chicago's Indo-American Center on Chicago City Wire.

Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC)

222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1212, Chicago

River North neighborhood

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Financial Highlights

• $11.5 million in state taxpayer support: From 2020 - 2025, Illinois taxpayers have given the IHCC 43 separate contracts and grants totaling $11,481,145, according to the Illinois State Comptroller.
• Annual IHCC Revenue was $3,426,614 in 2023, according to the group's latest available Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 990 filing. Government/taxpayer grants made up $2,246,463 of this revenue (66 percent).
• Employee Salaries: $1,433,404 of IHCC's spending (42 percent) was for salaries, including President & CEO Jaime di Paulo ($116,419)
• Taxpayer Grants up 800 percent: IHCC filings show it recieved $491,276 in taxpayer support in 2019 and $3.98 million last year from the State of Illinois alone.

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“Be Prepared in Case of Deportation”

Last week, the IHCC made headlines when it promised "operational support" and "free legal and financial resources" for Chicago-area business owners who were also illegal aliens.

Using state tax dollars, it published a "guide" to "prepare your business and employees" for government audits and raids.

“Be Ready for Government Audits & Raids," it read. "Gain access to guides on I-9 audits, workplace compliance, and employee rights during ICE enforcement actions. Ensure that your team understands their legal protections and knows how to respond effectively.”

"Educate your workforce on their rights during ICE enforcement actions and how to respond effectively," it said.

IHCC CEO di Paulo wrote an open letter to "community Members, policymakers, and business leaders "to sound the alarm on a crisis that threatens the economic foundation of our country: the deportation of (illegal alien) business owners."

He called for "business sustainability programs... and protections" for illegal alien-owned businesses, and held a press conference with Democrat elected officials on Feb. 18 to call for amnesty.

"Technical Assistance" to non-white owned businesses

Illinois State Comptroller records show the IHCC started receiving large state grants in 2020, some of the largest of which were for its participation in the Illinois Tollway's "Technical Assistance Program" to help non-white owned businesses get tollway contracts.

All told, from 2020-2025 state taxpayers have given the IHCC $3,772,622 to recruit attendees to classes that teach non-white business owners how to bid on Tollway contractrs.

The events and classes are typically 1-2 hours long; many are online.

One example: on Jan. 23, 18 participants in a six week "estimating" program celebrated their graduation at Auburn Gresham Healthy Lifestyle Hub, 839 W. 79th Street in Chicago.

"Diversity, equity and inclusion remain a top priority for the Illinois Tollway under the leadership of...Tollway Board Chairman Arnie Rivera," the Tollway said.

The remaining state taxpayer grants to IHCC have less specific public disclosures of their purpose.

Since 2020, IHCC has received 27 grants totaling $5,324,445 for "programs to benefit the public," two grants totaling $809,900 for "promotion of tourism" and three grants totaling $1,574,179 for "financial assistance."

Born by Burke

In 1984, Chicago lawyer Alphonse C. Gonzales was indicted and charged with extortion, obstruction of justice, lying to a grand jury and failure to file tax returns as part of the Chicago Operation Greylord investigation. 

He served three years in prison after acknowledging he solicited a $67,000 bribe from an undercover FBI agent he could fix a Cook County case by paying off police officers and judges.

In 1990, one year after Gonzales was released from prison, he founded a "minority business enterprise," Gonzales Construction, Inc., as well as a non-profit organization to lobby for more government grant and loan programs for "minority business enterprises."

It was called the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, now known as the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC).

Gonzales had a poltiical patron-- and partner.

Gonzales' wife, Rose, worked for 14th Ward Chicago Ald. Edward Burke (D), currently himself in state prison for racketeering, bribery and extortion. 

Gonzales Construction, Inc. received tens of millions in city contracts, its revenues growing from $256,185 in 1994 to $20.5 million in 2002, according to a 2005 Chicago Tribune report.

Burke even partnered with Gonzales Construction, Inc. on a Southwest Side residential development in the 2000s that includes Burke's home, Crain's Chicago Business reported.

Today, the IHCC, which changed its name in 2002, no longer lobbies for Burke, or for Gonzales Construction.

IHCC's pay masters now reside in Springfield, from which it receives two-thirds of its funding.

The organization claims "to represent more than 70,000 businesses," but its last Internal Revenue Service 990 filing, in 2023, reports IHCC received government grants of $2.25 million vs. membership dues of only $157,368.

"The IHCC firmly believes DEI is not just a moral obligation but a business imperative"

Gonzales leadership of the IHCC gave way in 1997 to that of Juan Ochoa, a protege of former U.S. Rep. Luis Guiterrez (D-Chicago) who led the group for ten years, until 2007. He had friends in even higher places.

On an FBI-wiretapped phone call, recently convicted Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) urged the CEO of ComEd to "take good care" of his friend, Ochoa, who was named to Comed's board at Madigan's behest.

Ochoa passed the IHCC torch to Omar Duque, formerly spokesman for the Town of Cicero under Madigan ally Ramiro Gonzalez, who led the organization to take a harder political turn left, lobbying for amnesty for illegal aliens as well as for more "diversity" programs and quotas for not just hispanics, but also blacks and homosexuals.

Current CEO DiPaulo  administered twelve $10,000, taxpayer-funded grants to historically excluded businesses in October—including those owned by entrepreneurs of color, women, veterans, LGBQT+ and persons with a disability—to close racial wealth and opportunity gaps."

Last spring, Di Paulo hired political activist Angelica Alfaro as the IHCC's first ever "government affairs" director. Her work experience includes three years as a state lobbyist for the University of Illinois, a run for State Senate and a stint working for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Alfaro took a hiatus from the job last fall to work for the Biden campaign in North Carolina, registering Spanish-speaking voters.

Last month, DiPaulo chided Chicago-based McDonald's for ending so-called "diversity, equity and inclusion" initiatives inside the company that discriminate against white employees and vendors, pledging to return "McDonald's unused corporate membership fee" because "we cannot align ourselves with entities that do not demonstrate a commitment to the communities they serve." 

DiPaulo said he would consider letting McDonald's give IHCC money again, once it reinstated anti-white practices inside the company.

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State of Illinois grants to the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 

Fiscal Year	Total Grants/Contracts	Total Taxpayer $$
2025	6	$2,606,284
2024	10	$3,976,475
2023	8	$1,605,552
2022	7	$2,240,056
2021	6	$559,492
2020	6	$493,286
TOTAL	43	$11,481,145

Source: Illinois State Comptroller