followed by a full shutdown in 2025 which remains in effect. <\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s been devastating to our cattle import industry and devastating to our livestock crossing here in Santa Teresa,\u201d Border Industrial Association President Jerry Pacheco said.<\/p>\n
The shutdown was implemented out of caution as officials worked to contain the spread of the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly that poses a serious threat to livestock. <\/p>\n
Pacheco said most cases have been concentrated near the Mexico-Guatemala border, but there were also some cases in northern Mexico, and a human case was also reported.<\/p>\n
Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are working with local officials and congressional leaders to address the outbreak. A newly-opened laboratory in Edinburg, Texas is producing sterile flies to try and stop screwworm reproduction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you talk to the cattle industry, they think they can control it and monitor it, and that shouldn\u2019t be a reason why we continue not to have active import-export livestock yards here on the border,\u201d Pacheco said.<\/p>\n
The prolonged shutdown has dealt a severe blow to the Santa Teresa crossing, which was projected to handle roughly half a billion dollars in trade and about 600,000 head of cattle last year, according to Pacheco.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re down to just a handful of employees,\u201d Pacheco said. \u201cI think there are five employees still employed at the cattle crossing, which is devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The impact extends beyond the facility itself. Ranchers and cattle traders who once traveled regularly through Santa Teresa are no longer contributing to the local economy, affecting restaurants, retailers and other businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re not making money, how can they spend that money?\u201d Pacheco said.<\/p>\n
The shutdown is also forcing difficult decisions for cattle producers, particularly in Mexico, where herds must be managed on strict timelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cattle process is very methodical,\u201d Pacheco said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just hold on to the herd and say, ‘Okay, let\u2019s wait another year.’ We\u2019ve got to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pacheco said some industry leaders are also frustrated with the U.S. decision to allow cattle imports from countries like Argentina while maintaining restrictions along the southern border.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of anger,\u201d Pacheco said. \u201cHere we are, neighbors and friends with Mexico, and we\u2019re prohibiting any kind of cattle imports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Pacheco warned the industry may not fully recover even if crossings reopen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019re going to see a lot of cattlemen not go back into the industry because they probably lost a lot of money,\u201d Pacheco said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like you can just flip a switch.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also concerns that the Santa Teresa facility itself may not survive long-term. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s even a question of whether he will be there,\u201d Pacheco said, referring to the facility\u2019s management. \u201cYou can\u2019t continue to staff a facility if you don\u2019t have revenue coming through.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (KVIA) — More than a year after concerns over the New World screwworm prompted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":{"0":"post-261500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-el-paso","9":"tag-el-paso-headlines","10":"tag-el-paso-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}