The American Farm Bureau recently signed a letter that all 50 state Farm Bureaus and the Puerto Rico Farm Bureau also signed asking the Biden Administration to do something about all of the undocumented immigrants crossing the border. The letter was specifically sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The Texas Farm Bureau President, Russell Boening spoke about some of the issues farmers are having near the border.
“We just pointed out the stuff that’s happening, there’s damage to crops, damage to fences, and other types of things. There are safety issues: maybe you have children that play outside or even folks that work outside. We basically just shared our concerns that we’re hearing from our members and asking for some assistance,” Boening said.
The fact that all 50 state bureaus and the Puerto Rico bureau signed the letter should show the administration how serious of an issue this is in the United States. Boening explained that the letter should help them realize that they need to do something about what’s going on. “Just the fact that all the Farm Bureau signed on and we’re very grateful for that, and I think everybody recognizes that it is a crisis.”
He also brought up how this isn’t something that local and state law enforcement can handle anymore without help from Washington D.C. “We’re hearing from our local and state law enforcement that their resources are being basically overwhelmed because they’re dealing with this and not being able to do their regular law enforcement work. The administration just needs to address it, and Congress needs to work with them. There are different ways of doing it. What’s happening right now is not working,” Boening said.
You can check out the full letter here.
