A Chicago landlord couple has been ordered to cough up $80,000 in damages after allegedly threatening to report their illegal immigrant tenants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The ruling, made under Illinois’ Immigrant Tenant Protection Act of 2019, has sparked outrage over whether American landlords should be punished for wanting to report individuals who are breaking federal law.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) secured the hefty payout on behalf of Maria Maltos Escutia and Gabriel Valdez Garcia, an illegal immigrant couple who sued their former landlords, Marco Antonio Contreras and Denise Contreras, in 2022. Their complaint alleged that the landlords had attempted to intimidate them into paying rent and vacating the premises by threatening to contact ICE.
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Judge Catherine Schneider of the Cook County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the tenants, citing the Illinois law that bars landlords from threatening to report tenants’ immigration status. In addition to damages, the couple must also cover attorneys’ fees and court costs.
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