Marking 10-year anniversary of federal law, Boricua small business owners, civic leaders cheered for next U.S. Senator from IL
by Federico de Jesús
CHICAGO, IL — Today, Chicago’s Puerto Rican leadership welcomed Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8) to the Barrio Borikén, the culturally designated district also known as Puerto Rico Town in historic Humboldt Park, and praised him for introducing legislation to put an end to the fiscal control board that has been squeezing working Puerto Rican families, including many of the loved ones of our Chicago Boricua community.
The Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center and the Puerto Rican Agenda worked closely with our coalition partners in Power 4 Puerto Rico and other allies in Illinois, across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, in a years-long advocacy campaign that led to the introduction of legislation to abolish the fiscal control board in Puerto Rico. Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, including restaurant owners, and other small business entrepreneurs, cheered “¡Raja no se raja!” as the Congressman proclaimed he would abolish ICE, fight for Puerto Rican democracy and give a voice to Chicago’s working Puerto Rican families in Washington, DC. Boricuas in attendance waived Puerto Rican flags and expressed their pride as former Congressman Luis Gutiérrez spoke about Raja’s courage in introducing historic legislation to begin the process of returning democratic rule and sovereignty to the Puerto Rican people.
The event held at Wepa Mercado del Pueblo, comes a day after Representatives Krishnamoorthi (IL) and Darren Soto (FL) introduced the “Puerto Rican People’s Power Restoration Act of 2026” in the United States Congressthat would ensure the so-called Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) ruling over Puerto Rico’s elected officials ceases to exist after a decade of austerity and sweetheart deals for Wall Street.
Puerto Rican Agenda Co-chair Natasha Brown said: “Today is a momentous occasion for our community. We gather to recognize the courage of Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi for introducing this legislation that calls for the end of the fiscal oversight board imposed on Puerto Rico – what many of us know as “La Junta Imperial.”
Brown also introduced Congressman Gutiérrez as “a leader who has dedicated his life to the principles articulated in the mission of the PRCC: self-determination, self-actualization, and self-reliance of the Puerto Rican people.”
“Yesterday my friend Raja took a brave first step to decolonize our island. Yesterday we went to Washington, DC and told the vultures, the bondholders, the overpriced consultants and those who think they know how to govern our island better than its elected officials, basta ya. Enough is enough. I was proud to vote against PROMESA and ten years after that sad day I am proud to stand with my friend, the next U.S. Senator from Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, who stands with immigrants, because he is an immigrant, and with Puerto Ricans who are
‘inmigrantes con papeles’ and we all stand together and say ‘¡Raja no se Raja!,” Gutiérrez said.
The “Puerto Rican People’s Power Restoration Act of 2026” would return the power stripped from Puerto Rico’s elected leaders after the U.S. Congress passed the PROMESA law in 2016. Under the guise of allowing Puerto Rico to cut its unsustainable debt, Congress exacerbated U.S. colonial domination over Puerto Rico by imposing an unelected fiscal control board that has imposed severe austerity measures – including cutting the University of Puerto Rico budget by 50% – and has overridden laws passed by the duly elected officials of the island. The bill introduced today would ensure the remaining debt restructuring process resolving the island’s utility company continues in federal court, while eliminating the board that suspended democracy in the island. The legislation provides for the end of the board after the Legislative Assembly and Governor of Puerto Rico enact a law to reclaim the powers of the fiscal entity created by Congress.
“Across the country, many are calling for 250 years without kings or tyrants. Here in the heart of the Puerto Rican Cultural District of Humboldt Park, we add our own call: ‘¡250 años sin reyes, sin tiranos y sin colonias’! 250 years without kings, without tyrants and without colonies!,” Brown added.
The filing of the measure to abolish “La Junta” comes after resolutions passed in 2025 by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, the Chicago City Council, the Cook County Commission, SEIU Illinois, and years of advocacy by allies across the United States and Puerto Rico.
“After ten years of this fiscal colonially imposed board, we have less democracy, less economic development and less workers rights thanks to this Wall Street junta that has worsened outmigration, including to here in Chicago. Thank you Congressman Raja for having Chicago Puerto Ricans’ back,” said Juan Calderón, Deputy Executive Director of the Chicago-based Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC), a member of the coalition.
