Trump administration seeks to stop Chicago suburb reparations program

by · UPI

June 17 (UPI) -- The Trump administration has joined a lawsuit Wednesday to stop a housing reparations program for Black residents in the Chicago area.

The Justice Department joined the lawsuit against the city council in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Ill. The council earmarked $10 million in revenue from cannabis sales tax for its Restorative Housing Program to aid Black residents who are direct descendants of people who experienced housing discrimination between 1919 and 1969.

Those who are eligible for the program may receive grants of up to $25,000. Those funds can be used for a down payment on a home, to repair property or to pay interest and late fees on a property in Evanston.

It is also possible for people who have been harmed by the city's discriminatory policies after 1969 to receive grants if they can prove harm.

Evanston has a population of about 76,000 people. About 25% of the population is Black or interracial.

Evanston has awarded about $5 million through the program to 212 applicants.

The Justice Department argues that the program is "race discrimination" and unconstitutional.

"Under the pretext of paying reparations for events more than 100 years ago, the city of Evanston has chosen to distribute millions of dollars in cash and housing benefits to people because of the color of their skin," Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. "It is race discrimination, pure and simple. And it is illegal."

The Justice Department cited a law that is meant to eliminate the types of discriminatory housing practices that caused harm to Black Evanston residents, the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The department alleges that Evanston's Restorative Housing Program violates the act "by offering and providing financial assistance for housing because of race."

Evanston Mayor Daniel Bliss told Evanston Now that the city stands behind "our first-in-the-nation reparations program, are confident in its constitutionality, and look forward to defending it in court."

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