Resolution on Hispanic Farmers of America

WHEREAS, 84 years ago, the founders of the League of Latin American Citizens, (LULAC) joined together to establish an organization that would become the largest, oldest and successful Hispanic civil rights and service organization in the United States, and

WHEREAS, the Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers of America is an association of Farmer and Ranchers that advocate for civil rights and provide technical assistance on organizing, coordinating, distributing and promoting agricultural produce of members in the states of Colorado, California, Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Utah, Washington across interstate lines, and

WHEREAS, the Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers of America grow produce for local, state, national and international market consumption, and therefore are dependent on state and federal resources for information and economic assistance for farmers and ranchers in marketing and distribution of their produce to nation-wide markets, and

WHEREAS, the Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers of America have for decades submitted various loan and funding applications to the United States Department of Agriculture the Farm Services Agency (FSA) for irrigation projects, equipment purchases, crop insurance, taxes, assistance on harvesting and marketing technology and equipment innovations; and along with Native American and Black American Farmers have routinely been ignored, denied and blatantly discriminated in the accessible and equitable awarding, and or granting of federal monies to all farmers and ranchers in the United States of America, and

WHEREAS, the Native and Black American Farmers of America have filed suit for the blatant discrimination and denial of awards and grants by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and negotiated, and received, a fair and equitable monetary claims resolution plan/remedy for the discriminative acts by the USDA and the Farm Services Agency, and

WHEREAS, the Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers of America vis-à-vis the Garcia v. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) litigation files a law suit to remedy the blatant discriminative actions by the USDA and the FSA and have been denied class action status and parity resolution in their law suit, and

WHEREAS, the USDA and FSA has taken administrative steps to address many of the allegations raised in the litigation: there has been much criticism of ho the entire processing of claims has been handled, including documented managerial failures and alleged systemic discrimination by the USDA, and

BE IT RESOLVED, by the League of Latin American Citizens of the United States of America that on June 22, 2013 stand in support of the Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers of America’s pursuit of a fair, equitable and just resolution of their litigation on the legal principle of parity, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) request the same settlement framework the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Farm Service Agency offered on a class action basis to the Native and Black American Farmers and Ranchers, and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States and the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Approved this 22nd day of June 2013.

Margaret Moran
LULAC National President