After years of waiting, about 18,000 U.S. farmers are set to receive payments from the Department of Agriculture as part of a $1.2 billion discrimination settlement with the department, the Clarion Ledger reports. Attorneys for the farmers were expected to submit papers to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., regarding final payment on Friday. This settlement is the second round of payments for affected farmers.
The maximum “payment is $62,500 — $50,000 for the claim and $12,500 for taxes,” the Ledger reports:
It’s been more than two years since President Barack Obama signed the settlement into law. Congress approved the $1.2 billion settlement in 2010 in what has become known as “the Pigford case.”
The case against federal agriculture officials found that the agency denied loans and other assistance for years to black farmers because of their race.
The settlement marks the second round of payments for black farmers. Thousands received payments as part of a 1999 class-action settlement. The second round, dubbed Pigford II, will pay farmers who missed the first filing deadline.
Read more at the Clarion Ledger.