Alejandra Cancino, Author at Injustice Watch

Alejandra Cancino

Alejandra Cancino reports on housing and the court system. Before joining Injustice Watch in 2023, she was an editor training emerging journalists and an investigative reporter whose award-winning work focused on the intersection between government and business. She has worked at City Bureau, the Better Government Association (now the Illinois Answers Project), the Chicago Tribune, and the Palm Beach Post. Alejandra grew up in Latin America and Miami and enjoys traveling the world in search of good hikes.

A worker with a mop standing in the middle of a circle with a shadow like a sundial pointing down and to the left.

Waiting for Payday

Illinois fails to collect wages owed to workers in Cook County

Illinois has strengthened its labor laws and improved efforts to collect stolen wages. But hundreds of cases linger in Cook County court, leaving workers waiting years to be fully compensated, an Injustice Watch investigation found.

by Alejandra Cancino December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

A woman with a megaphone stands in front of a pack of news microphones/ Behind her stand a number of people with signs in English and Spanish protesting living conditions in the apartment building.

Housing

Inquilinos de Pilsen retuvieron su renta legalmente pero aún se vieron obligados a mudarse

La demanda que los tres inquilinos presentaron contra su antiguo propietario, una compañía de responsabilidad limitada o LLC, muestra los límites de las protecciones de los inquilinos en Chicago.

by Alejandra Cancino July 24, 2025July 24, 2025

Housing

Know your building. Know your landlord.

Learn how to research building code violations and property ownership in Chicago using public records.

by Maya Dukmasova, Alejandra Cancino and Maggie Sivit June 27, 2025December 7, 2025

Housing

Pilsen tenants followed the law in withholding rent. They were forced to move out anyway.

The retaliation lawsuit the three renters filed against their former landlord, Pilsen Rentals LLC, shows the limits of tenant protections in Chicago.

by Alejandra Cancino June 17, 2025August 19, 2025

An illustrated grid alternates between illustrations of Chicago buildings and faces of tenants.

Housing

Answers to Chicago renters’ common questions

A Chicago housing expert shares insights about what to do when your landlord enters your apartment without permission, how to handle retaliation, and more.

by Alejandra Cancino and Maya Dukmasova March 13, 2025June 26, 2025

The Tenant Trap

Advocates push for at least $20M in city’s 2025 budget for housing measures

The funding would help programs for tenants facing eviction and those being displaced near the Obama Presidential Center and address tenant inequities documented in the Injustice Watch investigation The Tenant Trap.

by Alejandra Cancino and Maya Dukmasova November 20, 2024November 20, 2024

The Tenant Trap

Chief judge issues new order aimed at helping tenants facing eviction in troubled buildings

The order entitles tenants to quickly receive information about whether their landlords are being sued for building code violations, but questions remain whether it would help them fight eviction cases.

by Maya Dukmasova and Alejandra Cancino November 14, 2024November 22, 2024

Illustration of Cook County Circuit Judge Ieshia Gray in the style of a courtroom sketch. She's a Black woman with shoulder-length black hair and she's wearing her black judge's robes and a pearl necklace and sitting in a high-backed chair.

2024 Retention

Cook County retention judge under investigation over dispute with attorney

Cook County Judge Ieshia Gray is being accused of bias and unfair treatment by an attorney, after she repeatedly denied his requests for a new judge.

by Alejandra Cancino September 26, 2024October 5, 2024

Illustration of a Chicago streetscape showing different kinds of buildings with the downtown skyline in the background.

The Tenant Trap

Decades of courts data, 2.3M records analyzed to reveal unfair system

Injustice Watch and its partners connected and scoured nearly two decades of court data for ‘The Tenant Trap.’ Here’s how this unprecedented data analysis was conducted.

by Alex Richards, Forest Gregg, Maya Dukmasova and Alejandra Cancino August 7, 2024August 7, 2024

A Black woman with long braids sits on a brown couch in her apartment. Behind her there's a pink wall with art made by her kids.

The Tenant Trap

Tenants’ right to withhold rent becomes landlords’ weapon

In Illinois, tenants have a legal right to withhold rent from landlords who fail to maintain their buildings. But exercising the right is an obstacle course of legal requirements and bureaucracy. Tenants rarely make it through.

by Alejandra Cancino and Maya Dukmasova August 7, 2024August 7, 2024

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