Reuters reports that a USDA spokesperson said the agency will be ready to process payments on an estimated $4 billion in debt relief for 17,000 Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and Asian farmers once legal battles are resolved. It planned to start the payments in June.
“USDA will continue to forcefully defend its ability to carry out this act of Congress and deliver debt relief to socially disadvantaged borrowers,” a USDA spokesperson said on 15 June.
The spokesperson said the government cannot appeal the restraining order, which pauses payments until the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin rules more broadly on a lawsuit over whether or not the debt relief program discriminates against non-minority farmers.
For decades,…
Read the full article at: https://www.thepigsite.com/news/2021/06/usda-defends-debt-relief-for-minority-farmers-despite-legal-fight
