TL/DR:
1. Democrat-controlled congress passed debt-relief program for 16,000 Black, Native American, Asian American, and Hispanic farmers that would cover all their outstanding debt plus 20% extra for fees and taxes.
2. White farmers, Republican officials, Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and white nationalist Trump advistor Stephen Miller filed lawsuits claiming the payments were racist because White people didn't get them.
3. Four Bush-appointed judges filed injunctions blocking the money.
4. Any appeal by the Biden Administration would go to the Appeals Court then Supreme Court. Since these are controlled by Bush/Trump judges, it is virtually certain that they would not only reject the money, but would use it to write an opinion that could solidify that reparations are illegal and could even eliminate affirmative action at all levels. Biden Administration chose not to appeal to avoid this nuclear scenario.
5. Instead, Biden Administration has asked Congress to try to pass a different bill that couldn't be blocked by the courts. One option is the "Relief for America’s Small Farmers Act", which would provide debt relief for all farmers whose average annual gross income is under $300 grand. Since Black farmers on average have farms 1/3 the size of White farmers, this bill would disproportionally benefit Black farmers, the opposite of most farm bills.
For those who want to know more about the lawsuit blocking money to Black farmers:
Historic debt relief for minority farmers faces legal juggernaut
Historic debt relief for minority farmers faces legal juggernaut
"Legal experts still say an
uphill battle lies ahead. Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller filed the initial suit alleging reverse discrimination against white farmers one month after Congress passed ERFCA, with the help of former Trump aides Stephen Miller and Mark Meadows. Since the end of the former president’s administration, Miller and Meadows have focused their efforts on America First Legal, a firm that’s
embraced conservative and increasingly white nationalist causes. Some experts say that the race-based language and mechanisms tied to the current debt relief program would be difficult to defend without jeopardizing other government programs such as affirmative action that seek to remedy past discrimination."
"DOJ rarely gives up without a fight in such cases, but legal experts say the Biden administration’s best move at the moment might be to huddle with congressional allies and come up with a program more likely to pass muster. Otherwise, they say, there’s a danger of provoking court rulings that might undermine other programs aimed at remedying past discrimination.
One legal expert said he would be shocked if the administration allowed the fights over the debt relief program to reach the Supreme Court or even pressed forward with appeals.
“Obviously with this cluster of cases… they’re not going to blindly go before a federal court of appeals and run the risk of that kind of defeat, setting the stage for a Supreme Court defeat,” William & Mary Law School professor Neal Devins said. “Probably better hope that Congress will clean up the statute.”
Another lawyer involved in crafting affirmative action programs said the minority farmers debt relief law — in the form passed in March — would be a sure loser given the present make-up of the Supreme Court.
“I don’t think they have a chance in hell of prevailing with the current court,” said the attorney, who asked not to be named, citing sensitivities due to ongoing work with groups active on the issue."
