Hispanic Farmers Claim Discrimination by USDA and Fight On

In Texas and other Southwestern states Hispanic farmers there have a bone to pick with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The farmers allege USDA’s Farm Service Agency has discriminated against them by denying or delaying loans. The farmers also allege the department doesn’t investigate when they launch a complaint.

As Wade Goodwyn reports for NPR online, this is not the first time this complaint has been lodged against the USDA. Previously, Goodwyn writes, “[t]he government settled a similar complaint brought by African-American farmers for $1billion.” The Hispanic farmers have gotten nothing out of the government, reports Goodwyn, despite the similarities in the claims “and other factors are almost identical [.]”

In many ways this is not new territory for the USDA. Goodwyn reports that Dan Glickman testified before Congress in 1997 and “conceded a long history of discrimination in the loan program.” Glickman was Secretary of Agriculture when he gave his testimony.

The new administration appears to want to turn the page on that chapter of USDA history,
‘"[Agriculture] Secretary [Tom] Vilsack often talks about how the department is known in some quarters as “The Last Plantation.” That's a reputation that's unfortunate and one we intend to fix,’ says Justin Dejong, Vilsack's spokesman. ‘By empowering the Office of Civil Rights at the USDA, Secretary Vilsack is laying the foundation for people to be treated better in the future."’

The USDA civil rights division disappeared over the course of the Reagan administration. Farmers were told to file complaints if they had any. However, for 14 years those complaints were ignored until black farmers sued in Pigford v.Glickman. “U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman certified the black farmers' case as a class action. And with that ruling, rather than risk a trial, the federal government settled with 15,000 black farmers for $1 billion.”

When Hispanic farmers brought their suit they too wanted to be given class-action status, but despite the similarities with the black farmers’ claim, they were not allowed to sue as a class. This harms the chance for a settlement, because, as Matthew Miller, Justice Department spokesperson, points out, by being denied class status the government will have to defend each suit on an individual basis. “It's the same response from the USDA. The government is open to settling individual claims on a case-by-case basis, but unlike the black farmers, there will be no settlement as a group for Hispanics.”

The Hispanic farmers hoped they would have more luck with the Obama administration after eight years of frustration with the Bush administration. So far their hopes have not come to fruition. Yet, Obama did request $1.25 billion more for the black farmers.

‘“It makes no sense legally, morally or even politically to treat these farmers the way they have thus far been treated,’ says Stephen Hill, lead counsel for the Hispanic farmers. ‘The claims are exactly the same as the claims as the black farmers, and they're entitled to the same recompense for their injuries.”’

The Hispanic farmers are not giving up. Their attorneys have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court “asking the court to review the court’s ruling that the Hispanic farmer can’t sue as a class.”

We shall see if the court grants them certiorari.

To read the NPR story, or to hear it, click here.

Posted: 10/13/09