A federal judge in Fort Worth agreed with white farmers that they were unfairly excluded by Congress from a loan forgiveness program for socially disadvantaged farmers and issued a preliminary injunction that bars the USDA “from discriminating on account of race or ethnicity” in running the debt relief program. U.S district judge Reed O’Connor also certified the lawsuit against the program, filed by a pro-Trump legal foundation, as a class-action suit with thousands of farmers involved.
“The court’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction against this racially discriminatory program is a major win for every American citizen,” said the America First Legal Foundation. The foundation, led by former Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller, was the first, in late April, among conservative groups to challenge the debt relief program in court.
Under the preliminary injunction, the USDA is barred “from discriminating on account of race or ethnicity in administering” the debt relief program for any farmer who is covered by the lawsuit.
Congress enacted with debt relief program in March to counter-act decades of systemic discrimination that made farming a 95 percent white occupation. A century ago, one of every six farmers was Black. The lawsuit before O’Connor, with Texas state agriculture commissioner Sid Miller as a plaintiff, said USDA should include white farmers from ethnic groups that experienced discrimination and individuals with any trace of minority ancestry. They said there are more than 21,000 farmers nationwide who owe money on USDA loans but who are not counted as socially disadvantaged.
The loan forgiveness program was estimated to cost $4 billion under the definition of socially disadvantaged farmer used by Congress, which included Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian, Pacific Islander and native Hawaiian farmers.
The text of the judge’s order is available here.