The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division filed a motion on June 17, 2026, to join a class-action lawsuit challenging the City of Evanston's Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program. The DOJ argues that the program unlawfully distributes public benefits based solely on race and ancestry. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated that while cities can remedy past discrimination, distributing funds based on race constitutes illegal race discrimination.
The DOJ's complaint claims the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fair Housing Act by providing financial assistance based on race. The program, approved in 2019 and launched in 2021, offers eligible Black residents or their direct descendants $25,000 grants for home purchases, mortgage assistance, property repairs, or direct cash payments. To qualify, applicants must be Black and have lived in Evanston as adults between 1919 and 1969, a period marked by systemic housing discrimination.
The initiative has sparked a national debate on racial reparative justice. The DOJ contends that the program is not narrowly tailored, as it uses race as the sole qualifying factor without requiring proof of individual harm from city policies. The litigation began in May 2024 when Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on behalf of six non-Black descendants of Evanston residents, claiming exclusion from the program. In March 2026, a U.S. District Judge denied the city's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the lawsuit to proceed. The DOJ also initiated a civil rights investigation into the city's practices.
Evanston has distributed over $7 million of a $20 million fund, funded by a local tax on recreational marijuana sales. The city has issued $25,000 payments to an additional 44 residents. Following the DOJ's intervention, Evanston stated it stands by the legality of its reparations program but declined to comment further due to ongoing litigation. The federal government's request to intervene is pending before the court.