Santa Teresa Port of Entry reopens to livestock

SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Over 400 head of cattle crossed through the Santa Teresa Livestock Crossing today after more than one year and four months without crossing from Ciudad Juárez.

The U.S. federal government halted operations at the crossing in May 2025 due to New World Screwworm concerns, as U.S. and Mexican authorities were forced to close the crossing after cases of the screwworm were detected close to the border area.

The New World Screwworm lays eggs on open wounds or sores of livestock and animals. The eggs hatch into maggots that eat the livestock's flesh and infect the animal.

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Under Secretary Dudley Hoskins visited the Santa Teresa Livestock Crossing this morning as the gates reopened.

"Over the last year and a half, we have been working hand in glove with our partners in SENASICA in Mexico, the producer community," said Under Secretary Hoskins. "We have treatments today that we did not have a year and a half ago because of our partners at the Food and Drug Administration who have helped approve, I think, 12 to 15 different products for different animals, different species; that is an incredibly important component to how and why we manage screwworm in the livestock community."

More than 400 livestock made their way across the port of entry today.

"It was about one month ago today when we reopened the port in Douglas, Arizona and that system, those treatment protocols that we've had in place, have been working," Hoskins added. "We've been processing cattle through that port; our inspectors have been checking all the paperwork, the process, the protocols, the detector dogs, that entire system; we've been scrutinizing it daily since the Douglas port was reopened and because of the confidence we have in ourselves, our people, our partners and the protocols, we know we can reopen this port and move animals safely and legally through this port of entry."

On average, this crossing sees about half a million head of cattle cross each year. That averages to about $1.2- 1.4 billion per year.

USDA emphasizes the sterile fly tactic does work to deter NWS:

"That technique is a tool and it's proven, so we have our COPEG sterile fly production facility in Panama; we're producing 100 million sterile flies per week out of that facility," Hoskins added. "Those sterile flies are being dispersed in Texas and New Mexico and wherever the modeling and the data tell us is the highest and best use of those flies."

USDA, New Mexico and Mexican officials expect to cross nearly 800 head of cattle tomorrow.