FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 23, 2019 Contacts: Jesse Connor, Media Committee, mediacmte.atu@gmail.com
Autonomous Tenants Union Welcomes Passage of Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, Calls for Closing of Loopholes New law is a necessary step toward protecting our undocumented neighbors, but lack of Good Cause Eviction and Tenant Right to Counsel laws will undermine enforcement. ALBANY PARK, CHICAGO -- On Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Immigrant Protection Act into law, making Illinois the second state to prohibit landlords from evicting, intimidating, and retaliating against tenants on the basis of their immigration status. In our intertwined roles as a tenant-led union organizing against the displacement of our neighborhood’s working class population, and as a coalition member combating deportations under the banner of the Albany Park Defense Network, the Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU) welcomes these new protections. At a time when our immigrant members and neighbors are under direct threat from the federal government and from those emboldened by its nakedly nativist, white supremacist rhetoric, it is vitally important that we fortify our defenses at the state and local levels. Unfortunately, the existing weaknesses in our tenant protections threaten to undermine the efficacy of this new law. The Immigrant Tenant Protect Act prohibits landlords from pursuing eviction “based solely or in part on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant.” However, because landlords are not required to provide cause for pursuing the eviction of tenants whose leases have expired and/or are on month-to-month rental agreements, this prohibition can only be enforced against the most egregious offenders - ones who go so far as to openly tout their prejudice. A landlord’s whim is not a morally acceptable reason for someone to lose their home. This is why ATU advocates for a Just Cause law that would require landlords to prove that a tenant is in violation of their rental agreement in order to have them evicted. In order to add teeth to the prohibition on housing discrimination against immigrant tenants, the new law also establishes tenants’ right to redress in both housing court and through civil litigation. Again, these essential measures are undermined by pre-existing holes in our tenant protections. Landlords typically have lawyers on retainer, but many working class tenants cannot afford an attorney and/or cannot afford to take time off of work to attend housing court. As a result, the average eviction trial in Chicago takes less than 2 minutes, and ends in a summary judgement in the landlord’s favor. A tenant being evicted because of their immigration status cannot adequately assert the affirmative defense established by this law if they do not have a lawyer, which is why Chicago needs to join cities like New York and San Francisco in establishing a Tenant’s Right to Counsel. Just as defendants in criminal cases have the right to a public defender, so to should those at risk of having their homes taken from them. “This is a move into the right direction to prevent landlords from weaponizing fear by using deportation threats to get undocumented immigrants to move out of their apartments,” said Antonio Gutiérrez, an undocumented tenant organizer with ATU. “We now need to educate our community about their rights and make sure landlords are held accountable to this new law.” The passage of the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act is an important step forward in the struggle to defend our communities. But there is more work to be done to ensure that the promise of this law does not go unfulfilled. ATU will continue its fight for the full decommodification of housing, and calls on city and state lawmakers to continue to strengthen tenants’ legal protections.
Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU) is committed to organizing for housing justice from below and to the left. As an independent collective based in Chicago, we strategize together to defend and enforce our right to dignified housing. We believe that housing is a human right, not a commodity! We fight for an end to all evictions, and for community control of housing through the building of popular power. housing.atu@gmail.com | facebook.com/AutonomousTenantsUnion | autonomoustenantsunion.org
###