Court issues injunction blocking USDA disaster relief based on race or gender

A federal court in Texas on Friday ordered the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to stop discriminating against farmers on the basis of race or sex when awarding disaster relief.

"We just received a NATIONWIDE INJUNCTION in the Strickland v. Vilsack case, which halts the racially discriminatory farmer relief payments being made by the USDA," the Mountain States Legal Foundation said in a post to X. "The payments will no longer go out while the case proceeds! A proud moment for us & our partners."

The case was brought by the legal foundation and the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), who also confirmed the news.

"The court's nationwide injunction ordering the USDA to stop discriminating against farmers in the administration of disaster relief programs because of their race or sex represents a win for freedom and equality," the Southeastern Legal Foundation told Just the News in a statement.  "USDA has tried this before with other programs, SLF has taken it to court and won.  We won't stop fighting for the constitutional rights of American farmers until USDA earns their trust through fair and equal treatment."

A group of white farmers asked the court in April to approve an emergency injunction that blocks the department from using race, gender or other “socially disadvantaged” traits to determine who gets disaster and pandemic farm aid and how much, claiming that natural disasters do not discriminate, and neither should the USDA.

The group claimed 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, and gender among other factors, which violates the fifth amendment.

“The Constitution promises equal treatment to all Americans regardless of their race or sex," the farmers said in a court filing. "It also promises the separation of powers. USDA broke both promises through the disaster and pandemic relief programs challenged here."

The group alleged that the department was discriminatory by "defining farmers who are black/African-American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or a woman as ‘socially disadvantaged,’” and then gave those people more money than people not considered "underserved," for the same thing.

The USDA's program appears to be rooted in an executive order from President Joe Biden.