Department of Agriculture: Improvements in the Operations of the Civil Rights Program Would Benefit Hispanic and Other Minority Farmers

摘要

USDA has faced charges that its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has not conducted proper and timely investigations of complaints of discrimination. Since 1997, various groups of farmers including African-Americans, women, and Native Americans have filed class action lawsuits against USDA alleging, among other things, a 20-year history of improperly denied or delayed farm loans and delayed complaint investigations. On October 13, 2000, a group of Hispanic farmers filed one such class action. Some members of this group have since raised concerns that, contrary to past class actions where USDA stayed (or suspended) foreclosure actions, USDA is foreclosing against Hispanic farmers while this lawsuit is still pending. In light of these concerns, Congress asked GAO to (1) compare the processing times and approval rates for direct loans for Hispanic farmers with those for non-Hispanic farmers, (2) describe USDAs policies for staying foreclosures and how these policies have been implemented, and (3) assess USDAs progress in addressing previously identified problems associated with untimely processing of discrimination complaints and human capital issues within USDAs Office of Civil Rights. This report responds to the Congressional request.