DOJ Sues to Halt Evanston Reparations Program, Calling It Race Discrimination

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion Tuesday to join a lawsuit against the city of Evanston, seeking to shut down the nation's first municipal reparations program for Black residents. The federal government called the program "race discrimination, pure and simple" and said it violates the Constitution.

The filing marks the first time the Trump administration has used the Justice Department to challenge a local reparations initiative. The stakes extend beyond Evanston. At least a dozen other cities have launched reparations task forces since 2020, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is running a community engagement effort called "Repair Chicago" to explore a similar program.

What the program does

The Evanston Restorative Housing Program launched in 2021 after the city council approved it in 2019. It allocates $20 million in funding from a local tax on legal recreational marijuana sales. Eligible Black residents and their direct descendants who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 can receive grants of up to $25,000. The funds can be used for down payments on property, home repairs, mortgage assistance, or direct cash payments.

Residents of any race who experienced housing discrimination by city policies after 1969 are also eligible, but must provide proof of the discriminatory practice, according to city guidelines.

"There are sound ways for a city to remedy past discrimination or direct resources to its most vulnerable citizens and neighborhoods. Simply handing out money based on race, however, is not the answer. It is race discrimination, pure and simple. And it is illegal," said Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, in a statement.

The lawsuit's origins

The litigation began in May 2024 when the conservative group Judicial Watch filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of six non-Black plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are descendants of people who lived in Evanston but were excluded from the program because they are not Black. They argue the racial requirement violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fair Housing Act.

Michael Bekesha, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, told the Associated Press that applicants are not required to demonstrate they were personally harmed by Evanston city policies. He said race is the only qualifying criteria.

"Reparations programs aren't new, but they've always been lawful, they've always been connected to specific harms, specific injuries suffered by specific individuals," Bekesha said. "And here in Evanston, there is no connection between the individuals receiving the money and any action taken by the city of Evanston at any point."

In March 2026, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness denied the city's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the lawsuit to proceed. The DOJ opened its own civil rights investigation into the program that same month.

How much money has been distributed

Evanston has distributed more than $7 million of its $20 million fund, according to Fox News reporting. The numbers vary by source. The DOJ filing estimates $3.525 million has gone to at least 141 applicants. The Chicago Tribune reported in September 2024 that $5.03 million had been distributed to 203 applicants. That figure included $1.36 million for home improvements, mortgage assistance, and down payments, plus $3.69 million in direct cash benefits, the Tribune reported.

Earlier this year, the city's Reparations Committee announced it had issued $25,000 payments to an additional 44 residents.

Evanston's defense

Mayor Daniel Biss, a Democrat, said the city was reviewing the DOJ filing and stands behind the program.

"[We] are confident in its constitutionality, and look forward to defending it in court," Biss said in an email to The Guardian.

The city told Fox News it declined to comment further on active litigation.

"The City of Evanston maintains its position on the legality of the Evanston Reparation Program," the city said. "While we are cognizant of the filing made by the DOJ, the City does not provide comments regarding active litigation."

Robin Rue Simmons, who spearheaded the program as an alderman and now chairs the Evanston Reparations Committee, called the DOJ's move a "fear tactic" designed to discourage other cities from pursuing reparations.

"This lawsuit is designed to intimidate and discourage other communities that are beginning their process of reparations, inspired by what Evanston has done," Simmons said. "This lawsuit is an attack on the revived hope that Black communities have felt having a path, through a hyperlocal process, to reparations."

Simmons argued the program is narrowly tailored to documented housing harms. She cited policies like redlining, downzoning, and household occupancy limits that disproportionately affected Evanston's predominantly Black Fifth Ward neighborhood. A 2022 study found residents in Evanston's mostly Black neighborhoods have a 13-year life expectancy gap compared to residents in mostly white neighborhoods.

Why it matters

Approximately 14 percent of Evanston's roughly 76,000 residents are Black, according to U.S. Census data. A 2024 study on the reparations program found a majority of the city's Black residents live in the Fifth and Second Wards, historically low-income areas.

The DOJ's intervention places Evanston at the center of a national debate over race-based reparations. The move contrasts with the Biden administration's support of a congressional inquiry into reparations for the legacy of slavery. The United States was one of only three countries to reject a recent United Nations resolution urging nations to implement reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.

The federal government's request to formally intervene in the case remains pending before Judge Kness.

Sources:

• The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/17/lawsuit-stop-reparations-evanston-illinois
• Daily Caller: https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/17/racial-discrimination-department-justice-doj-reparations-evanston-illinois-chicago-suburb-unconstitutional/
• Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/17/afternoon-briefing-trump-officials-challenge-evanston-reparations-program/
• Fox News: https://noticias.foxnews.com/media/trump-admin-wants-stop-illinois-citys-reparations-effort-simply-handing-out-money-based-race
• Hartford Courant / AP: https://www.courant.com/2026/06/17/federal-government-illinois-reparations-program/