I think we have to use all tools at our discretion to gain their cooperation and help, and we have gained ground on that. That’s really all the closed border is about. Is to encourage them to do their part. Cattle coming across can be inspected just like those in affected areas, but that does not encourage cooperation. Closing the gate, in theory, should encourage that. It obviously has not worked as well as hoped. Think about this situationally. The border was never closed when fever ticks started pouring across. Because the only thing that can reduce fever ticks is identification and dipping or killing the tick. There’s no eradication plan or method that we know of so we can’t demand cooperation in something we don’t know.
Flies are going to fly across the border whether it’s open or closed, but I’d say a tick most likely comes across on a host, therefore making a closed border more effective for ticks than flies. That is what makes the political chess game most obvious.
I say all that to say this, we can encourage and expect help from Mexico, but we have to plan to do this by ourselves. And we can, it just takes more money, flies, and time.
