Judge Halts Disaster Aid Program for Minority and Women Farmers

‘Race-based classifications are presumptively unconstitutional,’ the federal judge wrote in striking down the US Department of Agriculture’s policy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture building in Washington on July 21, 2007. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge blocked a portion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) program that assists women and minority farmers with disaster relief.

In a preliminary injunction against the USDA on June 7, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas wrote that a group of white farmers are likely to succeed in their lawsuit against the federal agriculture agency.