This cost American taxpayers an astounding $2 billion last year, according to figures released by the government agency—the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—that distributes the benefit. The information was originally obtained by a conservative news website that reports up to 25% of the $2 billion is untraceable because it’s distributed in cash and there’s no way to verify that the funds are actually spent on food.

The USDA does confirm, however, that an average of 1.37 million people received food stamps in Puerto Rico each month in fiscal year 2012. The island, which is a U.S. territory, has a population of 3.7 million, which means that 37% of Puerto Ricans get food stamps from Uncle Sam. Though the figure of 47.7 million in the U.S. shatters records, it still marks only 15.2% of the nation’s population of 313 million.

Nevertheless, the food stamp rolls continue to rise under President Obama who is committed to eradicating what he believes is a national epidemic of “food insecure” households. In 2012 the government spent an unprecedented $80.4 billion on the program, marking an unbelievable $2.7 billion increase from the previous year. The figure doesn’t even include other taxpayer-funded food programs for low-income populations like “Child Nutrition Programs” that received an additional $18.3 billion last year.

As is typical with these types of bloated government programs, fraud and corruption has tainted the USDA’s grocery giveaway. Just a few weeks ago Judicial Watch obtained documents from the USDA detailing how the agency is working with the Mexican government to promote participation by illegal aliens in the U.S. food stamp program. The effort includes a Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA ensuring that Mexicans in the U.S. don’t need to declare their immigration status to get financial assistance from Uncle Sam.

It turns out that illegal aliens have received food stamps by the vanload for decades, according to a former certification case worker who contacted J W after reading the documents. The retired assistant case manager, Craig McNees, was in charge of vetting food-stamp applicants in north Florida and Indiana in the ’80s and says the program was infested with fraud and corruption that was perpetually ignored by management. “Illegals would come in by the vanload and we were told to give them their stuff,” McNees said. “Management knew very well they were illegal. It was so rampant that some employees would tell their illegal relatives to come get food stamps.”

Previous to that JW has reported extensively on the fraud that has plagued the food-stamp program even as the Obama administration continues to promote it. For instance last spring the USDA Inspector General revealed that many food-stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous vendors. Some trade food stamps for reduced amounts of cash. The fraud cost taxpayers nearly $200 million, according to the USDA watchdog, which provided various examples during testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

A separate federal audit revealed last year that many who don’t even qualify for food stamps receive them under a special “broad-based” eligibility program that disregards income and asset requirements. This is sticking American taxpayers with a multi-million-dollar tab to feed hundreds of thousands of people who can well afford to feed themselves.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released previously unseen USDA videos revealing a compulsory “Cultural Sensitivity Training” program. A whistleblower reported to Judicial Watch that employees were required to bang on tables, chanting in unison “The pilgrims were illegal aliens” while being instructed to no longer use the word “minorities,” but to replace it with “emerging majorities.” Judicial Watch received the videos pursuant to a May 18, 2012, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The sensitivity training sessions, described as “a huge expense” by diversity awareness trainer and self-described “citizen of the world” Samuel Betances, were held on USDA premises. The diversity event is apparently part of what USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack described in a memo sent to all agency employees as a “new era of Civil Rights” and “a broader effort towards cultural transformation at USDA.”  In 2011 and 2012, the USDA paid Betances and his firm nearly $200,000 for their part in the “cultural transformation” program.

USDA Training Administrator, Vincent Loran, in an October 10, 2011, email previously revealed by Judicial Watch, asked Betances for a copy of a training video vowing to keep it secret. “It will not be used for or show [sic] in any way shape or form,” Loran promised.  Nevertheless, Judicial Watch was able to obtain the video.  Highlights from the video of the taxpayer-financed diversity training include:

• USDA Sensitivity Training Video Excerpt 1 – “If you take a look at all of you here and you think about your salaries and your benefits and what you have left undone – plus my fee – plus the expense of the team that putting the video together, this is a huge expense.”

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• USDA Sensitivity Training Video Excerpt 2 – “I want you to say that American was founded by outsiders – say that – who are today’s insiders, who are very nervous about today’s outsiders. I want you to say, ‘The pilgrims were illegal aliens.’ Say, ‘The pilgrims never gave their passports to the Indians.’” Betances also asked the audience, “Give me a bam,” after these statements, to which the audience replied in unison.

• USDA Sensitivity Training Video Excerpt 3 – “By the way, I don’t like the word ‘minorities.’ How about ‘emerging majorities?’”

 Watch the entire “Cultural Sensitivity Training” here:

“This USDA diversity training video depicts out-of-control political correctness,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. “Can someone please explain how any of this helps USDA employees to better serve the American taxpayer? This video further confirms that politically-correct diversity training programs are both offensive and a waste of taxpayer money.  No wonder it took over half a year to obtain this video from the Obama administration.”

As reported by Fox News in October, 2012, Judicial Watch first broke the news of the USDA compulsory sensitivity training program based upon information it obtained in response to a FOIA request. That request was prompted by a tip provided to the organization by a USDA whistleblower.

Judicial Watch also previously uncovered information revealing that in April 2011, the USDA had treated 300 of its employees to a taxpayer-funded ‘tasty celebration’ of dishes from around the world, salsa dancing lessons from Vincent Loran, and a rap performance by a USDA employee who shared his feelings on human differences.

To see all documents regarding this investigation please click here.

To see this in our Investigative Bulletin please click here.

The minority farmer cash giveaway started a few years ago when the administration gave black farmers $1.2 billion to settle discrimination allegations against the government. The farmers say they were cheated out of federal aid, mainly farm loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), because of their race. President Obama said the settlement was “another important step forward in addressing an unfortunate chapter in USDA’s civil rights history.”

Celebrating the historic settlement, Obama’s Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, assured that “civil rights has become a top priority” since the president picked him to run the USDA. He also guaranteed that the agency has “implemented a comprehensive program to correct past errors” and taken “definitive action” to ensure minorities are treated fairly.

It wasn’t long before Hispanic and women farmers yelled “what about us?” They too wanted lots of cash for their alleged suffering and the administration quickly obliged, offering a chunk of change to make up for Uncle Sam’s supposed transgressions. The USDA subsequently announced a generous package for women and Hispanics that includes $1.33 billion in “compensation” and $160 million in “farm debt relief.”

To get the word out the feds launched an impressive bilingual advertising and public relations campaign that includes national outreach tours by top USDA officials as well as Justice Department bigwigs because that agency is sort of overseeing it. The goal is to ensure that any Hispanic or woman farmer or rancher who alleges discrimination is aware of the money pot, according to the USDA official in charge of the program.

With time running out, the agency is on a full-throttle push to recruit applicants. In its latest reminder, issued just a few days ago, the USDA says claims must be postmarked by March 25. It assures that the agency will continue reaching out to potential Hispanic and female claimants around the country to get the word out to individuals who may be eligible for this program so they have the opportunity to participate.

“Hispanic and women farmers who believe they have faced discriminatory practices in the past from the USDA have 45 days left to file a claim in order to have a chance to receive a cash payment or loan forgiveness,”  Vilsack says in the announcement. “USDA urges potential claimants to contact the Claims Administrator for information and mail their claim packages on or before March 25, 2013.”

The probe, requested by the Obama Administration, also determined that food-stamp benefits lag behind the increasing cost of food and that the welfare program penalizes recipients with jobs. The impact of inflation and other factors on food prices causes a lag in the benefit adjustment that can significantly reduce the purchasing power of food stamps, according to the National Academy of Science (NAS), an independent group that advises the federal government.

The administration requested the NAS investigation to help assess whether food stamps are adequate for beneficiaries to access a truly nutritious and healthy diet, which the president has established is disproportionately available to wealthy suburbanites. This goes hand in hand with Michelle Obama’s $4.5 billion measure to end childhood obesity in low-income neighborhoods by brining government-subsidized healthy foods to inner-city areas.

“For many Americans who live at or below the poverty threshold, access to healthy foods at a reasonable price is a challenge that often places a strain on already limited resources and may compel them to make food choices that are contrary to current nutritional guidance,” the NAS report says. It goes on to state that the goals of the food-stamp program include “raising the level of nutrition among low-income households and maintaining adequate levels of nutrition by increasing the food purchasing power of low-income families.”

Mission accomplished if you consider the numbers. An unprecedented 46 million people in the U.S. get free groceries from Uncle Sam at an astonishing cost of $80.4 billion annually, according to the government’s own figures. The number has increased drastically every year under Obama.  In 2009 the tab was $55.6 billion and by 2010 it skyrocketed to around $70.5 billion. Out-of-control government programs like this are always vulnerable to fraud and corruption and we’ve already seen evidence that it has struck this one, which is managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Last spring the USDA Inspector General revealed that many food-stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous vendors. Some trade food stamps for reduced amounts of cash. The fraud has cost taxpayers nearly $200 million, according to the USDA watchdog, which provided various examples during testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

A separate federal audit revealed last year that many who don’t qualify for food stamps receive them under a special “broad-based” eligibility program that disregards income and asset requirements. This is sticking American taxpayers with a multi-million-dollar tab to feed hundreds of thousands of people who can well afford to feed themselves.

This insanity has been created by the president and his mission to eradicate “food insecure households” in the U.S. To accomplish it, the administration has spent millions of dollars on ad campaigns to recruit more food-stamp recipients, even doling out hefty cash rewards to local governments that sign up the most people. One state even bragged about a $5 million performance bonus it got from the feds for its “swift processing of applications.”

Today, Judicial Watch received 46 pages of responsive documents from one small division of USDA called the Food & Nutrition Service (FNS).  The records released today show that FNS spent $2,350.97 to send Vincent Loran, the division’s Training Administrator, to Skokie, Ill., for Betances’ three-day course.  Additionally, the records show:

•  a January 17, 2012 email in which Loran seeks Betances’ blessing, referring to him as father, and professing his love.
• an October 10, 2011 email in which Loran promises Betances he will keep secret a video of a training session shot on USDA premises which the agency to date refuses to release.

Today’s disclosure came in response to Judicial Watch’s July 10 administrative appeal, which challenged that agency’s initial release of only six heavily-redacted pages.  A response to Judicial Watch’s initial FOIA was due on June 18.  A response to Judicial Watch’s appeal was due on August 10.