DOJ moves to block Evanston's $25,000 reparations housing grants
What's new: Federal prosecutors want to join a class-action case, arguing the Illinois program violates equal-protection and housing laws.
The Justice Department moved Tuesday to challenge Evanston, Illinois' reparations housing program, seeking to join a class-action lawsuit that argues the city illegally limits benefits by race and ancestry. The program, approved in 2019 and launched in 2021, offers eligible Black residents or their descendants $25,000 for home purchases, mortgage aid, repairs or cash payments. Federal prosecutors contend the policy violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and the Fair Housing Act because eligibility turns on race. In March, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness let the underlying lawsuit proceed after rejecting Evanston's bid to dismiss it. The city has distributed more than $7 million from a planned $20 million fund.