(Initially published in CNSNews.)
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has gone grocery shopping that inflation has been drivingprices of everything higher. In particular, egg prices have increased a whopping 60 percent from December 2021 to December 2022. Inflation is certainly contributing to this, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that a large part of the increase is the impact of avian flu on chickens.
However, south of the U.S. border, in Mexico, egg prices are still reasonable. This has driven some people to start smuggling eggs from Mexico into the U.S.,according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. While these eggs are cheaper, the USDA banned raw egg and poultry products from coming across the border in 2012. They had concerns about product cross-contamination in the U.S.
Essentially, you can pay a lot for a USDA-approved product or play Russian Roulette and hope the cheap eggs you get don’t have some sort of disease that Mexican authorities don’t check for.
“They are significantly less expensive in Mexico than the U.S.,” Gerrelaine Alcordo, spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in San Diego, told the Los Angeles Times about the egg smuggling. “This is also occurring with added frequency at other Southwest border locations as well … We continue to see higher than average numbers of prohibited poultry products. Even one uncooked egg is too many, due to the risk it could pose to American agriculture.”
CBP has said that most of the attempts to bring cheap eggs into the U.S., aren’t technically smuggling since they are declared, but they also say there has been a marked increase in “undeclared egg transportation.”
In San Diego, CBP reported a 397 percent increase in egg seizures from the last quarter of 2021 to 2022. The Tucson, Arizona, area saw a 320 percent increase, and Laredo, Texas, saw a 313 percent increase over the same period.
“There have been a very small number of cases in the last week or so where the eggs were not declared and then discovered during an inspection,” a CBP spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “When that happens the eggs are seized and the individual is assessed a $300 civil penalty. Penalties can be higher for repeat offenders or commercial size imports.”
If a person declares the eggs and surrenders them, there is no penalty. However, if he doesn’t declare them, and they are discovered, the initial fine is $300, which can increase for repeat offenders.
So, the U.S. Government isn’t worried about illegal immigrants crossing into the United States, possibly with health issues and diseases, but heaven forbid someone try to bring with him eggs that might have some virus or bacteria.
Once again, amid rising crime throughout the country, government officials don’t want to prosecute the serious criminals, but they are more than willing to turn law-abiding citizens who want affordable food or own a firearm into criminals and go after them with a vengeance.
