Cicero Law Blocks Latinos

By: Paul F. CuadrosLast November, the Town of Cicero brought its real estate market to a halt with an occupancy ordinance that set limits on the number of persons who can live in a dwelling.

The ordinance, passed by the Cicero Board of Trustees in 1991, required at least 200 square feet for the first person and 150 square feet for each additional person, said attorney Juan M. Soliz, Democratic committeeman for Chicago's 25th Ward, who says the law discriminates against Latinos.

It excluded enclosed porches, cellars and attics as living spaces. But the town did not vigorously enforce the law until November, when building inspectors began requiring home buyers to sign affidavits limiting the number of people allowed to live in the house.

"You're required to have all properties inspected at the time of sale," said Dennis Both, Cicero's attorney. "They [building inspectors] tell you how many people can live there."

"Without signing the affidavit, you could not purchase the home," said Robert Butters, an attorney for the West Town Board of Realtors. "Eighty percent of the transactions could not go through. The vast majority of the buyers in Cicero were Hispanic."

Discrimination Lawsuit
Cicero, with a population of 67,436, has undergone dramatic changes since 1980, when it was 8.6 percent Latino. By 1990, Latinos in Cicero totaled 24,931, or 36.9 percent.

Southeast Cicero borders on Little Village, Chicago's largest Latino neighborhood. To the northeast, Cicero borders on mostly black Lawndale, but the town's black population is only 141, up from 74 in 1980.

Latinos in Cicero have a higher median household income-$30,822-than non-Latinos, who earn $26,288. But the unemployment rate among Latinos is 12.1 percent, compared to 7.2 percent for non-Latinos.

In March, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the town, charging discrimination.

"The complaint alleges that this ordinance was implemented with the intent of excluding .,,Hispanics from moving to Cicero," said Isabelle M. Thabault, deputy chief of the Housing and Civil Enforcement section of the justice Department.

"This is the first time the justice Department has attacked a town's occupancy ordinance based on discrimination of national origin," she said.

"The town has made no secret that it wanted to limit the number of Hispanics," said Mark Lopez, assistant attorney general for the Illinois Attorney General's Office, which was investigating the matter when the Justice Department stepped in.

"We don't believe that's true," Both said. "It's so you don't have overcrowding. We have 40 percent Hispanics in Cicero, so obviously we aren't keeping them out." Cicero is just trying to "protect people from putting their kids in closets, pantries or porches," he said.

The Justice Department also alleges that nearly all of the families prevented from buying homes in Cicero since November have been Latino and that the ordinance violated the federal Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit seeks civil, compensatory and punitive damages and an end to the practice.

The federal lawsuit is frivolous and a waste of the taxpayers' money," said Raymond Hanania, Cicero's public affairs officer. "We feel they targeted Cicero for political reasons. The only thing that changed was the Clinton administration."

Negotiations between the federal government and Cicero in January, said James P. Turner, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Rights Division. The suit was filed on March 25 after the town rejected a settlement offer on March 20.

A similar ordinance in Franklin Park may be affecting a section there known as "La Selva," or "the jungle."

Last August, Franklin Park began sending inspectors to La Selva to enforce the law, Sohz said. If landlords had too many people in an apartment, they were fined.

Franklin Park's Latino population grew from 1,543, or 8.8 percent in 1980, to 3,849, or 20.8 percent in 1990.

"The landlords were being forced to evict families because they had too many people," Soliz said. "Some of them were living in their cars for a few days."

More than 20 people complained to Soliz, who is negotiating with village officials to end the dispute.

'They deny any intentional discrimination," he said. "Occupancy ordinances have been upheld in court, but when they are vigorously enforced, they target Hispanic areas," he said. 'We've gotten complaints from Franklin Park, Palatine and North Lake."

Franklin Park officials have not returned several telephone calls requesting comment.

The village has placed a moratorium on the ordinance until July, Soliz said.

If the ordinance is not changed, we will seek a temporary restraining order and further action in federal court," he added.