CHICAGO – An Illinois circuit court judge awarded more than $80,000 in a case brought by a Chicago couple who sued their landlords under the state’s Immigrant Tenant Protection Act (ITPA). The case, filed by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) is the first to reach a judgment under the 2019 law, attorneys said.
MALDEF filed the suit in 2022 on behalf of a tenant family whose landlord threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a rent dispute, solely based on the parents’ perceived immigration status. The suit was the second brought by MALDEF under ITPA, which bans landlords from discriminating against or harassing a tenant based on the tenant’s actual or perceived immigration status.
“This decision provides a measure of justice to a family facing a landlord willing to threaten to call federal immigration authorities in the belief that it would scare tenants,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. “Such unscrupulous conduct is appropriately unlawful under Illinois state law.”
On February 19, 2025, Circuit Court Judge Catherine A. Schneider ordered landlord Marco Antonio Contreras to pay more than $80,000 in damages as well as attorneys’ fees and costs for violating the ITPA. The judge also awarded a smaller sum in compensation for denying the tenants access to their belongings.
“Everyone has rights under the rule of law regardless of their actual or perceived immigration status. In Illinois, landlords are prohibited from wielding the threat of immigration enforcement as a weapon against their tenants,” Susana Sandoval Vargas, MALDEF Midwest Regional Counsel. “This decision shows that those who choose to disregard these protections will face serious consequences. This is an important victory for all tenants in Illinois, who, like our clients, just want a safe place to call home.”
According to the lawsuit, the tenant family rented a basement apartment from Marco Antonio Contreras and his wife beginning in 2017. On June 30, 2020, the landlords went to the family’s apartment and demanded payment of the July rent. During the discussion, Contreras threatened to report the couple to federal immigration officials, in violation of the law.
“We decided not to stay silent because our landlords threatened us with calling immigration, and we do not believe that anyone has a right to threaten us,” The tenant couple said in a statement. “No one should feel or act superior to others. We are all equals and deserve respect. Just because someone is your landlord does not mean that they get to do whatever they want to you.”
Illinois was the second state in the U.S. to enact legislation protecting immigrant tenants’ rights. MALDEF was instrumental in securing passage of the Illinois tenant law in 2019. California passed an immigrant tenant law in 2017. In 2021, a Colorado Tenant Protection Act went into effect.