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In a precedent-setting decision, a Cook County Circuit Court judge has ordered two landlords to pay $80,000 in damages to former tenants after the landlords threatened to report them to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a 2020 rent dispute.
Judge Catherine A. Schneider has ruled in favour of Maria Maltos Escutia and Gabriel Valdez Garcia, who filed suit against landlords Marco Antonio Contreras and Denise Contreras in 2022, citing violations of the Illinois Immigrant Tenant Protection Act. The case, the first adjudicated under the 2019 law, underscores the protections afforded to immigrant tenants in Illinois against eviction or retaliation based on their immigration status.
Maltos Escutia and Valdez Garcia, who had been renting a basement apartment on Chicago's South Side for $600 per month since 2017, alleged that Marco Antonio Contreras threatened to call ICE when they proposed paying a prorated rent for June 2020, as they were uncertain about remaining in the apartment for the entire month. After the couple moved out, Denise Contreras reportedly barred them from retrieving personal belongings from the attic.
The tenants were forced to leave due to the landlord's plan to sell the property. The $80,000 award encompasses damages and penalties assessed by the court for the landlords’ actions. The Illinois Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker, aims to protect renters from discrimination based on immigration status.
Only Illinois, California, and Colorado have laws that specifically protect immigrant renters. Legal experts contend that such state-level protections are increasingly vital amid heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric at the federal level.
Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), which represent the tenants, emphasize the significance of the ruling in setting a precedent under the new law. Samir Hanna, an advocate with the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, notes that without legal safeguards like the Illinois Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, immigrant tenants are vulnerable to exploitation.
"Immigrants are not asking for special treatment—only to be treated fairly and equally," Hanna states.