# DOJ punches back after Illinois city moves to dismiss lawsuit against ‘race-based’ reparations program

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/doj-punches-back-after-illinois-city-moves-to-dismiss-lawsuit-against-race-based-reparations-program/
- Published: 2026-11-02T16:56:11+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-02T18:59:19+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Far right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/media/doj-punches-back-after-illinois-city-moves-dismiss-lawsuit-against-race-based-reparations-program
- Topics: World

## Key points

- Evanston plans to seek dismissal of the federal challenge.
- The programme offers eligible residents $25,000 and housing benefits.
- The Justice Department alleges the rules violate federal law.

## Summary

Evanston, Illinois, plans to ask a federal court to dismiss the US Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging its reparations programme, but the department says it will oppose the move. The dispute matters because the case tests whether a city can restrict public benefits by race and ancestry under federal civil rights and housing laws.

The programme offers $25,000, housing-related benefits and cash payments to eligible Black residents and descendants of Black residents who lived in Evanston from 1919 to 1969. Approved in 2019, it pledged $10 million over a decade, funded through a local cannabis tax. The Justice Department alleges the scheme breaches the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and the Fair Housing Act; its case joins a separate lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch on behalf of six non-Black people who say they were excluded.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.