Chicago Could End Contracts With Ariz. Businesses Over Immigration Law

Aldermen in Chicago are considering a resolution to break contracts with four Arizona-based companies over that state's controversial immigration law.

The resolution, introduced Wednesday, asks that Chicago end the contracts until Arizona's new law is repealed.  The boycott wouldn't be approved if aldermen decide that breaking the contracts would hurt Chicago businesses.

This is a stronger measure than one approved in June, which didn't bar city departments from doing business with firms from Arizona and didn't affect deals that are already on the books.

The city currently does official business with at least four Arizona companies, including Redflex Traffic Systems, which installed and maintains the 189 red light traffic cameras strewn about the city.  That contract lasts until 2013.

The measure also asks that Chicago end discretionary travel to Arizona and that the Cubs and White Sox relocate their training camps out of Arizona.

Wrigley Field in April was the scene of a protest decrying Arizona's immigration law during the visiting Diamondbacks.

Arizona's immigration law is set to take effect Thursday. But a judge has blocked the portions that most angered opponents, including sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws.