Illinois governor signs law to protect immigrant renters

CHICAGO (AP) - Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a law aimed at creating protections for immigrants who rent in Illinois.

The law prohibits landlords from evicting or retaliating against tenants based on their immigration status. Landlords are also barred from disclosing or threatening to disclose immigration status to any law enforcement or immigration agency.

Pritzker signed the bill into law Wednesday. It takes effective immediately.

The Democrat says a person's place of birth has nothing to do with the ability to pay rent on time. The move makes Illinois the second state after to California to have such a law.

Pritzker says the new law will help make Illinois a "firewall" against President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policies. Earlier this year the first-term governor signed a law barring privately-run immigration detention facilities in Illinois.