Second federal judge in two weeks blocks Biden's $4 billion debt relief plan for minority farmers after challenge by white farmer who said scheme discriminated against him
- Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan, would pay up to 120 percent of black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American farmers' debt
- U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard blocked the government's $4 billion aid package on Wednesday
- She said the law's 'rigid, categorical, race-based qualification for relief is the antithesis of flexibility.'
- White farmer Scott Wynn of Jennings, Florida, said the debt relief program discriminated against him by race
- It is the second time that a federal judge has moved to block the program
- On June 10, Judge William Griesbach of Wisconsin said the plan failed to provide examples of hardships imposed on farmers from minority backgrounds
A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday became the second in as many weeks to temporarily block a part of the Biden administration's federal stimulus relief package that forgives agricultural debts to minority farmers.
A white farmer named Scott Wynn of Jennings, Florida, in May had challenged U.S. President Joe Biden's plans as he faced farm loans and financial hardship during the pandemic. He said the debt relief program discriminated against him by race.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard blocked the government's $4 billion aid package to farmers of color on Wednesday, ruling that the plaintiff had established a 'strong likelihood' of the policy violating his right to equal protection under the law.
Judge Howard said the law's 'rigid, categorical, race-based qualification for relief is the antithesis of flexibility.'
It is the second time that a federal judge has moved to block section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan, which would pay up to 120 percent of black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American farmers' debt.
On June 10, Judge William Griesbach of Wisconsin argued the plan failed to provide adequate examples of recent hardships imposed on farmers from minority backgrounds.
In that case, a group of 12 farmers from nine states filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in April alleging the program exempts white farmers and is a violation of their constitutional rights.
Judge Marcia Morales Howard (left) blocked the government's $4 billion aid package to farmers of color on Wednesday. She was the second judged in as many weeks to block the law, after a similar move by Judge William Griesbach (right) of Wisconsin
Griesbach claimed that in trying to end one type of discrimination, the program ended up creating another.
'The obvious response to a government agency that claims it continues to discriminate against farmers because of their race or national origin is to direct it to stop: it is not to direct it to intentionally discriminate against others on the basis of their race and national origin,' said Griesbach.
The USDA has identified 'socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher' to mean farmers 'who are one or more of the following: Black/African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, or Pacific Islander,' the judge noted.
The agency does not actually consider, he ruled, 'the financial circumstances of the applicant.'
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The USDA had planned to start the payments to farmers in June.
Close to 17,000 farmers of color would have been eligible to access the payments.
Following the Wisconsin ruling, the USDA had said it disagrees with Judge Griesbach and will carry on with plans for the program when the temporary order is lifted.
'We respectfully disagree with this temporary order and USDA will continue to forcefully defend our ability to carry out this act of Congress and deliver debt relief to socially disadvantaged borrowers,' department spokesman Matt Herrick told NBC News.
'When the temporary order is lifted, USDA will be prepared to provide the debt relief authorized by Congress.'
The program was put in place in an effort to tackle longstanding inequities that have plagued farming.
It was hailed by civil rights groups as the most significant legislation for black farmers since the Civil Rights Act.
Close to 17,000 farmers of color would have been eligible to access the payments under Biden's plan
For decades, USDA employees and programs have discriminated against socially disadvantaged farmers by denying loans and delaying payments, resulting in $120 billion in lost farmland value since 1920, according to a 2018 Tufts University analysis.
Black farmers have been promised relief from federal discrimination in the past, only to be repeatedly disappointed, Lloyd Wright, a Virginia farmer who served as the director of the USDA's Office of Civil Rights in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has said earlier.
He suggests eligible farmers continue paying on loans so that they do not end up being behind if the program is permanently blocked.
Several lawsuits from black farmers accusing the agency of discriminating against them were filed from 1999 to 2010 and settled by federal agricultural officials.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the disparity had worsened during the pandemic.
'For generations, socially disadvantaged farmers have struggled to fully succeed due to systemic discrimination and a cycle of debt,' he told The Washington Post.
'On top of the economic pain caused by the pandemic, farmers from socially disadvantaged communities are dealing with a disproportionate share of COVID-19 infection rates, hospitalizations, death and economic hurt.'
Data from the USDA shows the number of black farmers has shrunk from one million around a century to 45,000 today.
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