IARN — American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall recently toured farms located along the southern border of the United States.
Duvall says state Farm Bureau organizations along the border reached out to ask for help dealing with safety concerns regarding a rise in the number of people crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. Duvall says Farm Bureau’s first step was to reach out to the White House.
“We put together a letter to send to the President Biden about our concerns. In a very brief time period, all 50 states and Puerto Rico signed on to that letter and we sent it to the President, which generated a phone call between the four border State Farm Bureau presidents and representatives from the White House.”
Duvall headed south for a firsthand look at the situation and didn’t like what he saw at farms along the border.
“We’ve seen the how serious the situation is for our farmers. It is heartbreaking to see and hear some of the stories that I’ve heard this week. You know, they’ve experienced people coming across our border for decades but never at the level that we’re seeing it today. Our farmers and ranchers are worried about their safety and their family’s safety and their employees’ safety.”
People flooding across the border are also doing a lot of damage to those farms as they pass by, costing farmers a lot of money.
“They’re worried about the security of their property and the farm machinery and equipment. Some of them had their homes looted, they’ve seen their fences torn down numerous times, with great expanse to them. They’ve seen water sources tampered with and compromised during this time.”
Farmers are even finding the dead bodies of people who couldn’t finish their journey.
“We’ve heard discussions about farmers and ranchers finding people that have not made the trip and passed away, and it’s really been heartbreaking to see and experience what I have the last two days.”
Duvall says his main message for Washington, D.C., is that we need to “secure this border.” Border law enforcement officials are overwhelmed, and he says it’s time to uphold the laws of the land.
