{"id":410,"date":"2026-06-11T17:12:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T17:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=410"},"modified":"2026-06-11T17:12:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T17:12:01","slug":"usda-secretary-rollins-blames-biden-border-policies-for-screwworm-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=410","title":{"rendered":"USDA Secretary Rollins blames Biden border policies for screwworm threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Wednesday blamed the Biden administration\u2019s \u201copen-border policies\u201d for the six confirmed cases of the New World screwworm that have reached the United States, repeating a theme among Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=408\">Supporters say state action can reduce pregnancy-related deaths of Black women in NC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Speaking to members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee during an oversight hearing, Rollins said it was the previous administration as well as Mexican cartels\u2019 \u201crefusal to crack down\u201d that allowed the New World screwworm fly to migrate north.\u00a0 The pests can be transported via infested livestock or pets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone took their eye off the ball years ago, and unfortunately, because of the border policies, it\u2019s coming our way,\u201d Rollins said.<\/p>\n<p>According to Rollins, there are now six confirmed cases of the New World screwworm in the U.S., with five in South Texas and one in New Mexico.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Flesh-eating screwworms head for American livestock<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"XkdlRzL3Tk\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"282\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" scrolling=\"no\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnewsline.com\/2026\/05\/29\/repub\/flesh-eating-screwworms-head-for-american-livestock\/embed\/#?secret=os2n1eC1Sm#?secret=XkdlRzL3Tk\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cFlesh-eating screwworms head for American livestock\u201d \u2014 NC Newsline\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The New World screwworm is a devastating pest that can wreak havoc on cattle herds and other livestock. The screwworm is a type of fly that spreads by laying eggs in other animals, with the eggs then hatching into larvae that will eat the animal\u2019s flesh, causing significant harm and even potential death, according to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The fly had been eradicated in the U.S. since 1966.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>USDA staff reductions<\/h4>\n<p>Throughout the hearing, committee members and Rollins agreed on the importance of working to eradicate the screwworm in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But some Democrats said recent Trump administration decisions could hinder the department\u2019s ability to carry out that task.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., voiced concerns about the impact of recent layoffs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the department\u2019s ability to combat issues like the screwworm threat. She noted that the department\u2019s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service lost 25% of its staff, including more than 300 veterinary services employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClearly, we need a long-term response,\u201d Klobuchar, the committee\u2019s ranking member, said. \u201cI continue to be concerned about some of the reorganization\u2019s cuts to USDA. How that could affect our long-term response.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, the USDA has lost more than 21,000 employees, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. It ranks among the largest decreases of any federal department or agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=406\">NC ban on \u2018addictive\u2019 social media for children under 14 one vote away from governor\u2019s desk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But Rollins reiterated that the staff dedicated to preventing the spread of the screwworm has actually increased. At the beginning of last year, she said, the USDA had 10 full-time staff members working on screwworm prevention, while it now has more than 120.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She said the department has allocated $1.3 billion to combat the screwworm.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re prioritizing where the big threats are as we\u2019re working to ensure that we\u2019re meeting all of the needs across the country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>During the hearing, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, also pointed the blame\u00a0toward the Biden administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw this coming under the previous administration, and they refused to respond,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you let millions of people migrate through Central America this way, we saw the screwworm just come with them \u2014 whether it was on their pets or maybe they were bringing livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>USDA slowed screwworm spread<\/h4>\n<p>The agency\u2019s internal predictions, according to Rollins, were that the screwworm, which is still widespread throughout South and Central America, would have reached the U.S. by last summer. But she said the department was able to slow the devastating pest\u2019s arrival by closing all ports across the Southern border to livestock trade last summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>USDA is primarily combating the spread of the New World screwworm by breeding and releasing sterile screwworm flies, which will limit the number of flies that can reproduce and ultimately reduce the population.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She said the U.S. currently produces about 100 million sterilized flies a week, but needs to increase its production to 500 million a week to eradicate the fly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Rollins stressed that while the screwworm poses a threat to U.S. livestock, particularly cattle herds, it doesn\u2019t risk tainting the food supply itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe food supply is 100% safe,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is not a disease. It\u2019s not a virus. It\u2019s a fly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=404\">NC property tax moratorium bill nears the finish line<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Speaking to members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee during an oversight hearing, Rollins said it was the previous administration as well as Mexican cartels\u2019 \u201crefusal to crack down\u201d that allowed the New World screwworm fly to migrate north. The pests can be transported via infested livestock or pets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>USDA Secretary Rollins blames Biden border policies for screwworm threat - North Carolina Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=410\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USDA Secretary Rollins blames Biden border policies for screwworm threat - North Carolina Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Speaking to members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee during an oversight hearing, Rollins said it was the previous administration as well as Mexican cartels\u2019 \u201crefusal to crack down\u201d that allowed the New World screwworm fly to migrate north. 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