{"id":2411460,"date":"2025-03-08T17:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T22:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/perverse-landlord-couple-ordered-to-pay-80000-for-threatening-to-help-ice-find-illegals\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T17:31:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T22:31:28","slug":"perverse-landlord-couple-ordered-to-pay-80000-for-threatening-to-help-ice-find-illegals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/perverse-landlord-couple-ordered-to-pay-80000-for-threatening-to-help-ice-find-illegals\/","title":{"rendered":"Perverse: Landlord Couple Ordered to Pay $80,000 for Threatening to Help ICE Find Illegals"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fperverse-landlord-couple-ordered-to-pay-80000-for-threatening-to-help-ice-find-illegals%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2411460&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u2064Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) has secured an $80,000 \u200dsettlement \u2063on behalf of an undocumented immigrant couple, Maria Maltos \u2063Escutia \u2064and Gabriel Valdez Garcia, who faced intimidation from\u2063 their\u2064 former landlords in Chicago.The landlords,marco Antonio and Denise Contreras,allegedly threatened to report the couple to Immigration and Customs \u2064Enforcement (ICE) in violation of the Illinois Immigrant Tenant \u200bProtection\u200d act of 2019,wich prohibits\u2062 such discrimination based on immigration status. <\/p>\n<p>Cook \u200cCounty Circuit\u200d Court\u200d Judge\u2063 Catherine Schneider \u200cruled against the contrerases, mandating they pay \u2062damages, including \u200battorney fees, \u2063for the threats made towards the tenants.In their statement,\u2062 Maltos Escutia and Valdez \u200bGarcia emphasized the importance \u200cof\u200b standing up against intimidation, asserting their rights to respect and equality, regardless of \u200ctheir immigration status. \u200bThomas Saenz, president of MALDEF,\u2064 noted \u200bthat this <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">ruling reinforces legal protections<\/a> \u200dfor immigrant\u200d tenants against\u2064 coercive actions by landlords. \u200dThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/double-murderer-whom-biden-sprung-from-death-row-is-now-demanding-an-even-bigger-gift\/\" title=\"Double Murderer Whom Biden Sprung from Death Row Is Now Demanding an Even Bigger Gift\">case highlights ongoing debates<\/a>\u200b about the treatment of undocumented immigrants in the context of U.S. immigration law and tenant \u200drights.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund will receive an $80,000 payout after representing an illegal immigrant couple whose former Chicago landlords threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on them.<\/p>\n<p>The landlords were banned from discriminating against tenants based on actual or perceived <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wary-illegal-aliens-started-reverse-flow-trend-just-weeks-trump-admin-policies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">immigration<\/a> status under the Illinois Immigrant Tenant Protection Act of 2019, according to a Thursday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/latino\/immigrant-tenants-lawsuit-landlord-threat-ice-rcna195179\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from NBC News.<\/p>\n<p>Cook County Circuit Court Judge Catherine Schneider ruled that landlords Marco Antonio Contreras and Denise Contreras had to pay damages, as well as attorneys&rsquo; fees and costs, for violations of that law.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Maltos Escutia and Gabriel Valdez Garcia, a couple who lived together, had sued them in 2022 under the statute, which bars landlords from threatening to report tenants to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/homan-reveals-imminent-ultimatum-illegal-immigrants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">immigration<\/a> authorities.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint said that the Contreras &ldquo;wrongfully threatened to report Plaintiffs to ICE with the intent to harass, intimidate, and induce them to pay rent and surrender possession of the premises,&rdquo; per NBC News.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Maltos Escutia and Valdez Garcia said in a statement that &ldquo;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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No one should feel or act superior to others. We are all equals and deserve respect,&rdquo; the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Just because someone is your landlord does not mean that they get to do whatever they want to you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, likewise said that &ldquo;such unscrupulous conduct is appropriately unlawful under Illinois state law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He added that the judgment &ldquo;provides a measure of justice to a family facing a landlord willing to threaten to call federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-in-texas-stops-biden-deportation-freeze\/\" title=\"Federal judge in Texas stops Biden deportation freeze\">immigration authorities<\/a> in the belief that it would scare tenants.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The decision in this case and the hefty $80,000 in damages comes as President Donald Trump&rsquo;s administration works to deport illegal aliens.<\/p>\n<p>As border czar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/forced-us-tom-homan-warns-sanctuary-cities-get-exactly-dont-want\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Homan<\/a> and other officials have pointed out, it&rsquo;s a federal crime to enter the United States illegally and without going through the proper channels.<\/p>\n<p>That crime subjects violators to deportation.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps there is an argument for protecting legal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/remember-pope-francis-pro-illegal-immigrant-turns-catholic-charities-taken-billions-shelter-grants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">immigrants<\/a> from discriminatory conduct, but there is no good argument for banning the reporting of criminal conduct to the proper authorities, in this case reporting known illegal aliens to ICE.<\/p>\n<p>To what other law, civil or criminal, would such a statute apply?<\/p>\n<p>If someone had been conducting any other type of illegal conduct in the property owned by the Contreras, they would have every right, and likely the duty, to report that conduct.<\/p>\n<p>But lawmakers in Illinois have decided that some types of law-breakers should receive special protections under the law.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, Americans were treated as second-class citizens as a result.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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The landlords violated the Illinois Immigrant Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which prohibits discrimination based on immigration status, as reported by NBC News. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Catherine Schneider ordered Marco Antonio Contreras and Denise Contreras to pay damages along with legal fees for breaching this law. Maria Maltos Escutia and Gabriel Valdez Garcia filed a lawsuit in 2022 claiming the landlords wrongfully threatened them to intimidate them into paying rent. They stated they chose not to remain silent about the threats, emphasizing that no one should feel superior or act disrespectfully towards others. Thomas Saenz from the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund noted that such behavior is illegal under Illinois law and highlighted that this ruling offers justice for families facing intimidation from landlords regarding immigration authorities. This decision comes amid ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants, raising questions about protections for legal immigrants versus reporting criminal activity like illegal entry into the U.S<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2411461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Picture-67.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[8364,3813,27243,36794,4855],"class_list":["post-2411460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-landlord","tag-legal-ruling","tag-threats"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Picture-67.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2411460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2411464,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411460\/revisions\/2411464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2411461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2411460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2411460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}