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Thursday, May. 27, 2021

Does a new federal program offering loan relief to farmers of color face legal challenges?

Gus Fisher, Gigafact

yes

White farmers and conservative groups are suing to include white farmers in a $4 billion farm loan relief program enacted in March. The relief is limited to “socially disadvantaged” farmers who are Black or members of other ethnic minority groups, in what Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack has called a response to “decades of systemic discrimination” by government programs.

Most of the $23 billion in pandemic relief to producers during 2020 went to white producers, according to Successful Farming.

One group suing to block the move was founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and other former Trump officials. Their suit, filed in a Texas district court, charges the exclusion of whites from the program is “patently unconstitutional.” Another group of white farmers has sued in Wisconsin.

REVISED on June 2, 2021, to restate aims of lawsuits.

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