Trump admin wants to stop Illinois city's reparations effort for 'simply handing out money based on race'

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Black New Yorkers demand cash reparations from the government as state officials work toward issuing some form of compensation for slavery or other past racial injustices. In a filing submitted by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, federal prosecutors sought on Tuesday to join an existing class-action lawsuit challenging the City of Evanston’s "Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program." The DOJ contends that the Chicago suburb's initiative unlawfully distributes public benefits based strictly on race and ancestry. "There are sound ways for a city to remedy past discrimination or direct resources to its most vulnerable citizens and neighborhoods," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated in the filing. "Simply handing out money based on race, however, is not the answer.