In The News

USDA pulls livestock inspectors, cites security concerns

In recent months, security concerns have forced the U.S. Department of Agriculture to close three livestock inspection sites in Mexico and move them to the U.S. border.

In mid-November, the Arizona Department of Agriculture also announced it was pulling its inspectors from Nogales, Mexico, and would instead be checking loads of produce once trucks enter the U.S.

Lyndsay Cole, a spokeswoman for the USDA, said the decision to close the livestock inspection sites wasn’t based on one particular incident, but instead on information the agency received from the U.S. Department of State.

Cole said the three inspection sites that were closed were originally located up to 20 miles inside Mexico. The closed sites include Laredo/Nuevo Laredo, Pharr/Reynosa and Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras. She added that livestock inspectors are conducting business as usual at the other eight ports of entry along the U.S./Mexico border.

As government agencies continue to pull inspectors out of Mexico, some proponents are still pushing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to implement another cross-border trucking program with Mexico. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association adamantly opposes that idea.

“When agencies are removing their personnel from Mexico due to the threat of violence, I can’t imagine the FMCSA would want to do the opposite and send their folks down there as they did with the previous cross-border trucking program,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said recently.

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