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The U.S. is starting to lift a ban on Mexican livestock, as beef prices in the U.S. reach sky-highs levels. The ban was put in place to protect against a flesh-eating parasite. KJZZ's Nina Kravinsky was in Douglas, Arizona, on Monday as the first live cattle from Mexico entered the U.S. in more than a year.
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NINA KRAVINSKY, BYLINE: For the first time in more than a year, a group of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are unlatching a lock on a giant door built into the towering, rust-colored border wall.
UNIDENTIFIED CATTLE WRANGLER: (Shouting).
KRAVINSKY: Before long, a wrangler from the Mexico side chases a group of 20 or so steers under the barbed wire overhead and into Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED CATTLE WRANGLER: (Shouting).
KRAVINSKY: On Monday, U.S. and Mexican livestock inspectors put new protocols to the test to make sure none of these animals are infested with the New World screwworm parasite. The flesh-eating parasite burrows into wounds of warm-blooded animals and can be deadly if left untreated. Mexico has been in a year-plus battle against the New World screwworm, which earlier this summer made its way into Texas despite the border closure.
DUDLEY HOSKINS: It's obviously a really concerning parasite. It could have devastating impacts on just the health and viability and the economic impacts of our livestock producers.
KRAVINSKY: U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary Dudley Hoskins. Mexico has nearly 2,000 active cases of screwworm. The Mexican state of Sonora, where these cattle are coming from, just registered its first case last week. But officials on both sides of the border were confident Monday that their new protocols, like heightened inspections and screwworm-sniffing dogs, were enough to be sure the parasite wasn't coming through the wall. Alan Huddleston is the lead vet at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - or APHIS.
ALAN HUDDLESTON: We have designed an animal import protocol for cattle that will assure that cattle that are imported into the United States legally and using our import protocol will have a negligible risk of bringing New World screwworm into the country.
KRAVINSKY: If all goes well in Douglas, Huddleston says, other cattle crossing ports will reopen in the coming months. The border reopening comes as the Trump administration looks for a way to ease high beef prices. The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level in around 75 years, according to USDA data, driving up prices for consumers and making U.S. ranchers' animals more valuable. Rancher Frank Ambriz cares for a few dozen cattle in the community of Double Adobe, Arizona, just north of Douglas. As the parasite has crept closer to the border, he's tried to be diligent about making sure his animals don't have screwworm.
FRANK AMBRIZ: I go to the ranch at least 24 hours - I'm trying to put another hour into the day so it can be 25 - because you have to look at the animal.
KRAVINSKY: He trusts the inspection process to only let in healthy animals. And he prefers this solution to President Trump's recent announcement on Truth Social that the United States would ease tariffs on ground beef imports. That plan drew backlash from U.S. cattle ranchers in the industry's lobby, as well as from Republicans in Congress. Ambriz agrees.
AMBRIZ: And it's going to hurt us down the road. Prices are going to take a drop.
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KRAVINSKY: In the meantime, cattle jostle as they hurdle through the border wall, screwworm-free.
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KRAVINSKY: For NPR News, I'm Nina Kravinsky in Douglas, Arizona.
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