Biden gave loan relief only to minority farmers, whistleblower says
The Biden Administration secretly discriminated against white farmers when it came to loan forgiveness, a whistleblower said. A USDA employee told NewsNation that the agency, while under Biden, radically profiled farmers and only forgave loans of minority borrower. 'It was to pay off anyone who wasn't a white male's loan,' the whistleblower said. 'That was the only qualification for this loan forgiveness.
'They were trying to keep this hushed because of the obvious implications of race-based loan forgiveness.' The green-light for the program was buried in the American Rescue Plan Act, which allowed the government to pay up to 120 percent of the outstanding debt of 'each socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher,' NewsNation found. After the program was struck as unconstitutional, the Biden Administration allegedly sent an email to minority farmers about the Inflation Reduction Act, which was intended to provide financial assistance to borrowers who were over 60 days behind on payments.
The whistleblower said white farmers were not sent this email, which provided $3.1billion of relief. 'It wasn't about hardship,' white farmer, James Dunlap, of Baker City, Oregon, told NewsNation. 'It wasn't about financial situations. It was about that box you checked under ethnicity line under your application.' Dunlap works two additional jobs to keep his farm afloat, he told NewsNation, yet he still didn't qualify for the loan forgiveness.
The Oregon farmer was one of the many who sued the Biden Administration over the American Rescue Plan Act, claiming that it was race-based and violated the Constitution. A federal judge ruled the white farmers had been constitutionally harmed in ways that 'cannot be undone.' Following the decision, the Biden Administration still sent the Inflation Reduction Act email. The January 10, 2023, letter shared 'information about new payments and/or loan modifications that may assist you,' NewsNation, which obtained a copy of the letter, reported.
The whistleblower said the letter was only sent to those who qualified as a 'socially disadvantaged farmer' under the American Rescue Plan Act. 'You are receiving this letter because you were previously informed of your potential eligibility as a Farm Loan Programs borrower for a payment under Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act' the letter read, according to NewsNation. The letter informed farmers that the USDA could not grant loan forgiveness to them anymore, but the Inflation Reduction Act could, the outlet reported. The whistleblower also alleged the USDA workers were instructed to tell some minority farmers to stop paying, so the loans would be forgiven.
'It's not right,' he told NewsNation. 'It was discriminatory, unethical. 'And the people who pushed it are still in charge of the agency … [those] at the national office. Trump hasn't gotten rid of them.' In a statement to NewsNation, a current USDA spokesperson did not address the specifics of the program, but slammed the Biden Administration for leaving the agency in 'complete disarray and dysfunction'. 'And that's why farmers were being left behind,' the spokesperson said. 'The entire farm economy has been hurt by Biden's inaction.
'It is absurd that while the Biden Administration was driving up inflation, American taxpayers were forced to fund billions in woke DEI initiatives. 'No one should be shocked that Biden weaponized bipartisan farm programs to discriminate and provide taxpayer dollars to one group based on race and not on merit. 'Instead, USDA is reprioritizing unity, equality, meritocracy, and color-blind policies,' the statement continued.
The spokesman added that the new Secretary of Agriculture under the Trump Administration Brooke Rollins is reviewing the situation. 'Secretary Rollins directed USDA to review Inflation Reduction Act funding to ensure that it honors the sacred obligation to American taxpayers - and to ensure that programs are focused on supporting farmers and ranchers, not DEI programs or far-left climate programs,' he said.
'Unlike the Biden Administration, under Trump, USDA does not discriminate and single out individual farmers based on race, sex, or political orientation.' Biden's Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, told DailyMail.com that the 'loan servicing done while I was in office would reflect those farmers and ranchers in financial distress that could be helped were helped.' 'Our guiding principle was doing everything we could to help farmers and ranchers in financial stress stay on the farm,' he said.
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