Illinois has passed a law requiring landlords to open their doors to illegal immigrants.
As housing costs spiral out of control, particularly in large metropolitan areas such as Chicago, this new mandate is set to potentially increase the pool of renters by tens of thousands.
On June 30, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 1817 into law, amending the Illinois Human Rights Act to include “immigration status” as a protected class, Breitbart reported.
This legislation makes it a civil rights violation in the state of Illinois to ‘discriminate’ against a person based on their immigration status in a wide range of real estate transactions. Key areas covered by the law include:
- Refusal to engage in a real estate transaction, including sale, rental, or lease, based on a person’s immigration status.
- Altering the terms, conditions, or privileges of a real estate transaction due to a person’s immigration status.
- Refusing to receive or transmit a bona fide offer from a person based on their immigration status.
- Misrepresenting property availability or refusing to allow a person to inspect property due to their immigration status.
- Creating or distributing any communication that expresses a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on immigration status related to real estate transactions.
- Refusing to engage in loan modification services based on a person’s immigration status or discriminating in making such services available.
- Encouraging the sale, lease, or listing of property based on the notion that the value of the property has or will decrease due to the immigration status of people living in the vicinity.
- Intentionally causing alarm to induce property sale or lease based on the immigration status of persons entering the vicinity of the property.
“This law sets clear boundaries, protecting the rights of immigrants and ensuring that financial institutions and service providers cannot engage in discriminatory practices,” said Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights). “Putting these protections in place will promote fairness to ensure people are not unjustly denied housing.”
“By making this change, we are breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for immigrants to establish homes and contribute to our communities,” Gillespie said. “Someone’s background should not disqualify them from buying or renting property.”
The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also signed a law that allows illegal immigrants in the state to have access to standard driver’s licenses that can be used for identification with or without permission from U.S. immigration authorities.
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit