August 30, 2022
A group of white farmers led by Texas' agriculture commissioner has abandoned its claim that a federal loan relief program for minority farmers is racially discriminatory, after President Joe Biden — in a move that drew scorn from social justice advocates — eliminated race as a factor in distributing that assistance.
July 26, 2022
Farming groups representing women, people of color and Native Americans urged a Texas federal court to keep intact a federal loan relief program for minority farmers, saying they would be harmed if the court ultimately decides it discriminates against white farmers.
July 19, 2022
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is defending a federal loan relief program for minority farmers, arguing in court Monday that the pandemic-era initiative is meant to redress the government's past discrimination and is an appropriate remedy for its misdeeds.
April 25, 2022
Discovery is set to wrap up by late June in a group of white farmers' racial discrimination suit against the U.S. government, after a federal judge in Texas denied a Black farmers' association's bid to conduct fact discovery and extend expert discovery by eight weeks.
April 21, 2022
A group of white farmers who claim the U.S. Department of Agriculture excluded them from COVID-19 relief funds allocated to minority farmers has asked a Texas federal judge to deny a Black farmers' association's bid seeking more time for fact discovery in the case.
March 18, 2022
A pair of minority farmers associations asked a Texas federal judge Friday to let them intervene in a fight between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and two classes of white farmers who claim they were excluded from COVID-19 relief funds allocated for minority farmers.
March 14, 2022
The federal government and a group of farmers suing it for excluding white farmers from COVID-19 relief funds allocated for minority farmers have filed dueling motions for summary judgment, asking a Texas federal court to rule in each party's favor.
October 07, 2021
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told a Texas federal court that white farmers challenging an American Rescue Plan loans program can't bring race discrimination claims because the law their claims are based on doesn't apply to federal agencies administering their own programs.
July 09, 2021
Native American law practitioners are anticipating developments in clashes over pipeline projects affecting tribal lands, white farmers' challenges in multiple federal courts to American Rescue Plan funding for minority farmers, and a fight over the environmental and religious rights fallout from a proposed Arizona copper mine.
June 30, 2021
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has urged a Texas federal judge to limit a proposed class action by white farmers challenging an American Rescue Plan loans program for socially disadvantaged farmers, saying the plaintiffs don't have standing to fight other federal programs that rely on similar classifications.