American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall Tours US/Mexico Border in NM

Prompted by increasingly dangerous conditions along the southern border, American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall recently toured farms and ranches along the New Mexico and Texas international boundaries with Mexico. There he visited with Farm Bureau member-families who are experiencing the effects of migrant traffic daily.

After visiting Texas, President Duvall went to the Johnson Ranch, which runs for eight miles along the border. It’s also where construction on the wall stopped, leaving a patchwork of Normandy barriers and a five-strand barbed wire fence, which the Johnson’s are tasked with maintaining. The lack of secure border has dire ramifications for the Johnsons.

“When we come home we don’t just pile out or start unloading the groceries,” says Russell Johnson. “Before I let my family out of the truck I go room to room in the house to make sure no one is there, and the same with the barns. We’ve come home to people in our yard asking for water, food and a phone so they can call their pickup person. We have video of them trespassing in our yard, knocking on our door and turning on the water in our yard to fill their bottles. They hide in our outbuildings waiting for their ride or worse, break the floats off of our water troughs which leaves 25,000 gallons of water to run on the desert floor, completely draining our system.”

Brandy, his wife, says “We don’t let the kids play in the yard by themselves during the day and we don’t leave a light on around our yard or in the barn at night for fear it will create a beacon.”

Border patrol agents present during the tour noted that the 178,416 apprehensions recorded along the border in June was the highest monthly total reported by the US Customs and Border Protection since early 2000. They also stated that over 400 people a day are being flown from the Rio Grande Valley sector to the El Paso sector to alleviate overcrowding. This creates an agent shortage in the field from Ft. Hancocock, Texas to New Mexico’s state line with Arizona as agents are required to aid in paperwork completion.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall listened during a roundtable as farmers and ranchers from southern New Mexico and Arizona shared their experiences of living and working along the border. While everyone told stories of fearing for the safety of their family and the rampant property damage of the hundreds of migrants passing through the area, some had more frightening stories. Such as the kidnapping of an employee, or the how brothers were held at gun point as their truck was stolen, or of riding horseback alone gathering cattle and encountering men in camo with large backpacks sheltered in the bushes.

“It’s a humanitarian crisis on both sides of the border,” says Craig Ogden, President of the New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau. “Not only is the situation causing fear for our border residents and their children but some border crossers have perished on their trek into this country.”

Chad Smith, NMF&LB CEO says “In addition to security issues, we heard how the increased traffic has reduced land values. So even if these ranchers wanted to sell land that has been in their families for generations, they can’t sell it for what it was worth even five years ago.”

Duvall vowed to pass their stories along to the administration saying “We need help, citizens of this country need to be protected. I can’t promise you I can make anything happen, but I can promise you your voice will be heard.”

(L-R) Luna County FLB President and area rancher Russell Johnson explains how the increase in border traffic is affecting his family and ranch. In the background is the end of the wall where it reverts to Normandy barriers, before eventually transitioning to a barbed wire fence. On The American the tour was NMF&LB Farm Bureau FederPresident Chad Smith, ation joined all 50 AFBF President Zippy Duvall, Russell’s father Joe Johnson and NMFLB state Farm Bureaus and Puerto Rico President Craig Ogden. Farm Bureau in sending a letter in early June urging the Biden administration to address the surge of undocumented immigrants entering the United States. The letter was sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. ▫

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