Last Thursday, a federal judge did the right thing and halted the USDA loan forgiveness program that was exclusive to farmers of color and saying that a group of white farmers who sued over this program being discriminatory actually would have a good chance of winning.
Temporary Hold
NBC News has now reported that Judge William Griesbach of Wisconsin’s Eastern District has issued the order, which places the program on a temporary hold. He wrote that he believed that the white farmers were “likely to succeed on the merits of their claim” and that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “use of race-based criteria in this administration of the program actually violates the rights farmers’ “right to equal protection under the law.”
Rick Esenberg is the president and general counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), and he represents the white farmers. “This court has now recognized that the federal government’s plan to allocate and condition beliefs on the basis of race actually raises some grave constitutional concerns and this threatens my clients with irreparable harm,” he said.
“The Biden Administration continues to radically undermine the bedrock principles of equality under our laws,” he added.
This judge’s move is going to stop the USDA from issuing debt relief payments to thousands of farmers from minority ethnic groups. Moreover, this flies in the face of the agency’s previous promise that they would begin payments to these groups later this month.
USDA spokesman Matt Herrick had the following reaction to this decision:
“We have to respectfully disagree with this temporary order and we will continue to forcefully defend our ability to carry out this act of the U.S. Congress and give debt relief to socially disadvantaged borrowers. When this temporary order is lifted, the USDA is planning on providing the debt relief to minorities that have been stipulated by the U.S. Congress.”
The Washington Post explained:
“The assistance program was passed by the Senate in March as a part of the Biden Administration’s $1.9 trillion stimulus relief package, and it was seeking to correct what some see as long-standing disadvantages faced by Latino, Black, and other minority farmers who at one time had difficulty getting loans from banks or the government.”
This program is open to any individual who is Native American, Hispanic, black, Asian American or Pacific Islander, but unfortunately white producers do not qualify.
However, it wasn’t long after it passed that the WILL organization sued on behalf of this group of white farmers, saying that this program is unconstitutional because it is race-based. There are now 12 plaintiffs in all from four different states, and there are a lot of separate legal challenges on behalf of the other white farmers who are being filed on their behalf.
Do you think that this lawsuit might have some legs? Feel free to share your thoughts below!