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U.S. Justice Department Moves to Block Evanston's $20 Million Race-Based Housing Program

6/29/2026

Department of Justice filed to intervene this week in a class-action lawsuit targeting Evanston, Illinois's reparations initiative, contending that the program's $25,000 race-based housing grants violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and the Fair Housing Act.

The city has disbursed more than $7 million of its $20 million fund to date. The DOJ's request to formally join the litigation remains pending before the court.

Program Structure and Disbursements Evanston approved the Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program in 2019 and launched it in 2021, making it the first municipal reparations program of its kind in the United States.

The $20 million fund draws revenue from a local tax on legal recreational marijuana sales.