A group of white farmers in Texas is asking a federal judge to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture from using race, gender or other "Socially disadvantaged" traits to determine who gets disaster and pandemic farm aid and how much, arguing the agency's current administration of eight emergency funding programs is unconstitutionally discriminatory.
The farmers, represented the nonprofit legal firm called the Southeastern Legal Foundation, asked a judge to issue an emergency injunction from the U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas, to stop any additional awards from being made on the basis of race and gender or other liberal standards.
"Enjoining USDA from using race, sex, or progressive factoring when administering the programs is warranted because Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that: the programs, as currently administered, are unconstitutional; USDA lacks statutory authority to run the programs in their current form; and USDA failed to adequately explain changes in calculating payments when implementing progressive factoring," the motion stated.
The farmers said the Biden administration has taken roughly $25 billion in disaster and pandemic aid approved by Congress for farmers in eight programs and devised a system to make awards based on race, gender or other "Socially disadvantaged" traits.
"USDA does this by first defining farmers who are black/African-American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or a woman as 'socially disadvantaged,'" the court filing said.
"Disasters don't discriminate and neither should USDA. In fact, the Constitution prohibits it," the lawyers said in a statement.
The farmers bringing the action include Rusty Strickland, Alan and Amy West and Bryan Baker, all of Texas.
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