Now Hispanic, Female Farmers Plead For Bias Claims Action

Despite seeing Congress pass funding to resolve black farmers’ claims this week, the Agriculture Department (USDA) is still under pressure to settle discrimination claims from minority groups.

Advocates for Hispanic and female farmers claiming discrimination by USDA say they have not been treated the same as their black and Native American counterparts by the Obama administration.

“[Blacks and Native Americans] are going to get more money and a better process. It is a slap in the face,” said Stephen Hill, a partner at Howrey who represents Hispanic farmers.

At stake in the cases is hundreds of millions of dollars in government money that lawyers are trying to secure for their clients to resolve longstanding discrimination lawsuits.

The new black farmers’ settlement, known as Pigford II, is capped at about $1.25 billion. That total includes the $1.15 billion the House passed Tuesday, along with $100 million already authorized to pay off discrimination claims in the 2008 farm bill.

Separately, USDA has reached a $760 million settlement with Native American farmers, a case known as Keepseagle.

USDA has been trying to negotiate similar agreements with Hispanic and female farmers. The department has offered about $1.33 billion to be split between claimants in the Hispanic farmers’ case, known as Garcia, and the female farmers’ case, known as Love. That is not as much as black or Native American farmers stand to receive from their respective settlements.

Lawyers for both groups say that the department should recognize their claims are just as valid as black farmers’.

[One must wonder how much the farmers will actually get, and how much will go to these lawyers--- Editor]

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