Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Ann Klees

To the Editor:

Maybe you’ve heard, Texas has a screw worm invasion from Mexico, caused, say government officials, by President Biden letting in all those “illegals”.

Fact Checks:
1) As of June 10, the invasion of five infections: three cattle, one dog, and one I don’t know what. But it can easily grow. (Editor’s Note: The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reports, as of July 1, there are 31 active infections).
2) The last time the U.S. had screw worms was in the 1960s, and they were eradicated with the sterile male flies, and then a monitoring program was put in place to keep an eye on the little buggers.

But, in March of 2025, when Secretary of Agriculture Rollins took over, the monitoring program was cut. Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) decided it was an unnecessary cost, I guess, or maybe the Secretary of Agriculture made the decision.

Cut to Peyton Schuman, Senior Director of Government Relations for Texas Southwest Cattle Raisers Association. He said a real outbreak of these pests could cost Texas about 1.8 billion dollars per year, with cattle producers having an annual loss of $700 million.

So, instead of blaming Biden, maybe the administration should hustle up another billion sterile male flies and reinstitute the monitoring program that just might have prevented this fiasco to begin with.

Ann Klees
Waterville