By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) - The Trump administration said on Tuesday it was moving to challenge a reparations program for Black residents in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, while the city's mayor defended the program.
Evanston had offered reparation money to Black residents whose families suffered lasting damage from decades of discriminatory practices. It marked the first such step by a U.S. city.
Black residents of the city are eligible for the housing program if they, or their
ancestors, lived in the city between 1919 and 1969 or if they can show they suffered housing discrimination due to the city's policies. Approved in 2019, the program provides grants of up to $25,000.
The U.S. Justice Department claimed in a statement that the program was discriminatory by distributing "cash payments and financial assistance for housing solely to Black persons, and their descendants, and not to similarly situated persons of other races."
Local officials and civil rights advocates say such reparations aim to address the legacy of racism and policies that targeted Black Americans, resulting in generational inequity.
The Justice Department said it was moving to intervene in a lawsuit that challenged the program.
In a statement to the news website, Evanston Now, a city spokesperson said the city "maintains its position on the legality of the Evanston Reparation Program" and declined to comment on active litigation.
"We stand behind our first-in-the-nation reparations program, are confident in its constitutionality, and look forward to defending it in court," Mayor Daniel Biss told Evanston Now.
U.S. President Donald Trump has taken several steps and made several comments that have sparked outrage from civil rights advocates who say such actions reverse decades of social progress and undermine efforts to acknowledge America's history.
He has targeted cultural and historical institutions, from museums to monuments to national parks, to remove what he calls "anti-American" ideology.
Trump's declarations and executive orders have led to the dismantling of slavery exhibits and the restoration of Confederate statues.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
