DOJ Targets Evanston Reparations

The Trump administration’s Justice Department has moved to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to stop Evanston, Illinois’ first-in-the-nation reparations program for Black residents. Federal prosecutors argue the city’s Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program violates the Equal Protection Clause and fair housing law by distributing public benefits based on race and ancestry. Evanston created the program to compensate Black residents and descendants harmed by discriminatory housing policies, offering eligible recipients up to $25,000 and distributing more than $5 million to roughly 600 people. The case escalates the administration’s broader campaign against race-conscious government programs and puts a closely watched municipal reparations effort at risk.