Latest news with #MALDEF
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nonprofit fights back after Texas ends in-state tuition for undocumented students
Texas ended in-state tuition for students without legal documentation last week in a quick concession to a Trump administration's lawsuit, but now a San Antonio-based civil rights group has taken the first step to legally restore the 2001 law. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a motion Wednesday to challenge a judge's decision to enjoin the state from enforcing the Texas Dreamers Act, a 2001 law authorizing in-state tuition for eligible residents. The federal government sued June 4 alleging that the 2001 act violated federal law that prevents students without legal status from accessing special benefits unavailable to citizens. Texas asked a North Texas district court to strike down the law, joining the Trump administration's suit, and the judge stopped the state from enforcing it. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said last week that he joined the Trump administration's motion to end the "unconstitutional" law. 'Ending this discriminatory and un-American provision is a major victory for Texas," he said. MALDEF said it is planning to pursue legal status on behalf of Students for Affordable Tuition, a group of students who would have to pay out-of-state tuition four times as high if the judge's ruling holds. "What happened last week — the invalidation of longstanding state law in the course of one afternoon — was an abuse of our judicial system; those affected by the attempted invalidation have the right to be heard on the legality of the Texas Dream Act," said Thomas Saenez, the president and general council of MALDEF. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas nonprofit fights end to in-state tuition for undocumented students
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
L.A. Woman: Eva Longoria Fights For Her Community on Film and on the Ground
"Anytime there's a natural disaster, there's so much heartbreak,' actress Eva Longoria says, reflecting on her experiences on the ground helping victims of the Eaton Fire in Altadena, where she aided in cleanup and handing out food and other necessities. 'All of the stories were so humbling and a lot of the people in Altadena are from Black and brown communities, so they not only lost their homes, but a lot also lost their work [as] nannies, gardeners, construction workers and housekeepers.'Longoria — who splits her time between Los Angeles, Mexico and Spain — says she focused on holding space for people's stories while holding their hands, adding that the stress of deportation raids, which increased when the Trump administration came into office, made things worse. 'A lot of the people I was speaking to were undocumented and living in fear,' she there were inspirational moments amid the despair. 'L.A. galvanized around this — there was no Republican and no Democrat,' she says. 'It was people out there helping each other … that was the most beautiful thing.'The Corpus Christi, Texas native — who recently backed Kamala Harris for president and spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention — has been a champion for progressive ideals and social justice since she became a star on Desperate Housewives 20 years ago. As her profile grew, so did her activism. She's used her platform to fight for immigration reform and workers' rights via the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) as well as United Farm Workers and the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Her own namesake foundation helps Latina women and their families with education and entrepreneurship, and another group she formed, Eva's Heroes, is dedicated to helping special needs adults with a variety of online and in-person addition to her presence on the front lines of the L.A. fires, she donated to the California Community Foundation's Wildfire Recovery Fund. She also contributed $1 million to Julián Castro's Latino Community Foundation's Wildfire Relief Fund — to 'make sure that the people from my community were getting resources that they needed,' she says of something she's always prioritized. "I am a very proud Latina,' Longoria adds — and it seems to inspire everything she does, from serving as director of 2023's Flamin' Hot to her most recent acting role as Selena Gomez's movie double in Only Murders in the Building. Her CNN original series Searching for Spain — a spinoff of her hit Searching for Mexico — is coming in 2025, and an FX and Disney+ Latin America docuseries following the Mexican soccer team Club Necaxa is also forthcoming. Her comedy film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip debuts on Disney+ March 28, and she celebrates 20 years as a global ambassador for L'Oréal philanthropy remains her most important role. 'I do it as a person who cares deeply about humanity,' she says, 'and as a daughter who grew up in a household where my parents taught me what volunteerism means and the value of it.'Learn more about Longoria's humanitarian projects and social justice work at and
Chicago Tribune
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago landlord ordered to pay $80,000 for threatening to call ICE on tenant, a first under 2019 state law
A judge ordered a Chicago landlord last month to pay $80,000 to former tenants after the landlord threatened to call ICE on them during a verbal dispute in June 2020, according to court documents. The case is the first to reach a judgment under the state's 2019 Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, according to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which filed the case on behalf of the tenants. '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,' said Susana Sandoval Vargas, MALDEF's 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.' On Feb. 19, Cook County Circuit Judge Catherine A. Schneider ordered former landlord Marco Antonio Contreras and his wife, Denise Contreras, to pay more than $80,000 in damages as well as attorneys' fees and costs for violating the state law, according to the lawsuit. The judge also awarded a smaller sum in compensation for Contreras denying the tenants access to their belongings. Neither the Contrerases nor their attorney could be reached for comment. The former tenants also declined an interview but released a statement through their attorney. '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 couple said in the 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.' Sandoval Vargas declined to comment on the tenants' immigration status. When Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act into law in 2019, Illinois became the second state to prohibit landlords from evicting tenants solely because they're living in the U.S. illegally. The law also barred landlords from reporting or threatening to report tenants' immigration status to intimidate or retaliate against them. California was the first state to pass an immigrant tenant law in 2017. In 2021, a Colorado Tenant Protection Act went into effect. While the Illinois Human Rights Act also prohibits discrimination broadly based on citizenship status, the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act provided extra protection, said Eric Sirota, a law professor and director of the Tenant Advocacy Clinic at Northwestern University. He said housing providers will hopefully take this week's judgment as a 'shot across the bow.' 'This is the law of Illinois, and people are hurt really badly when their housing status (is) jeopardized or made unstable,' he said. 'Courts are recognizing how harmful that is.' Another case filed in September 2021 has not yet reached judgment, according to Sandoval Vargas. In that case, a Cicero couple is accused of reporting one of their tenants to immigration officials after the tenant requested a repair in his apartment, according to the lawsuit. State Rep. Theresa Mah, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said Tuesday it's a 'nice feeling' to know that the law is working and that the couple found it useful in their case. Mah added that due to the current political environment — where she said 'immigrants are being mistreated and disparaged' — the legislation is 'more relevant than ever.' 'I don't feel that anybody should be put in a vulnerable position because of whatever immigration status they occupy,' Mah said. 'I'm glad that the law is … helping ensure that people have rights and that they're able to use the law to protect those rights.' 'I hope that the news about this judgment will send a message to people that tenants can't be mistreated in this way,' she added. According to the lawsuit, Marco and Denise Contreras invited the couple to rent the basement from their single-family home in the Ashburn neighborhood in August 2017. In a verbal contract, they agreed to $600 rent, which included utilities, due on the first of each month. Around February 2020, the landlords asked the couple to sign a contract describing the terms of the rental agreement. They told the couple a written contract was necessary so they could show proof of income for a loan to buy a second house, according to the lawsuit. The couple signed the contract, which changed the rent due date to the 29th of each month, and paid a $600 deposit, the lawsuit said. The contract also required the couple to pay their own utilities. They were not provided a copy of the contract, the lawsuit said. Two months later, Marco and Denise Contreras — who had already moved out of the home — informed their tenants that their rent would be raised to $800 a month, a sum the couple could not afford, according to the lawsuit. The landlords agreed to let the tenants continue to pay $600 per month from April through June 2020, according to the lawsuit. In June of that year, the landlords told the couple they were selling the home and they would have to move out of the apartment by August 2020. They did not provide written notification, the lawsuit said. Later in June, the landlords entered the basement apartment and told the couple the July rent was due on June 29 and demanded they pay. When the couple offered to pay a prorated amount since they were planning to move out, Marco Contreras threatened to report the couple to federal immigration officials, in violation of Illinois state law, the lawsuit said. Though the couple moved out of the apartment on July 31, 2020, it wasn't until 2022 when they reached MALDEF and their attorneys. MALDEF filed the lawsuit on behalf of a tenant family. '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's president and general counsel. 'Such unscrupulous conduct is appropriately unlawful under Illinois state law.' Sandoval Vargas said MALDEF has not noticed any recent uptake on calls about landlords harassing tenants. However, she suspects that most people are not aware of the new law. 'The most important thing is that everyone has protection under the law — the Immigrant Tenant Protection law protects everybody whether they're being threatened on their actual or perceived immigration status,' Sandoval Vargas said. 'People should be aware of those protections so that if they find themselves in that situation, they know that there's something that they can do.'
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Chicago landlord ordered to pay over $80K for threatening to call ICE on tenant in 2020
CHICAGO — A Chicago landlord has been ordered to pay more than $80,000 for threatening to call immigration agents on a couple who rented an apartment from him in 2020. The couple sued their landlord under the state's Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, which prohibits landlords from discriminating against or harassing a tenant based on the tenant's actual or perceived immigration status, according to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which filed the suit in 2022 on behalf of the couple. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines According to the lawsuit, the tenants had rented a basement apartment from Marco Antonio Contreras and his wife starting in 2017. However, on June 30, 2020, the landlords went to the unit seeking rent for the next month. The lawsuit states that during the discussion with the tenants, Contreras threatened to report the couple to federal immigration officials, which attorneys argued was a violation of the law. On Feb. 19, a judge ordered Contreras to pay more than $80,000 in damages as well as attorneys' fees and costs for violating the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act. '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, said. '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.' In addition to the $80,000 fee, the tenants were also awarded a smaller sum for being denied access to their belongings. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland '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 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.' The case is the first to reach a judgment under the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, which passed in 2019, according to MALDEF. Illinois was the second state in the US to enact legislation protecting immigrant tenants' rights. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
