OJINAGA, MEXICO — This remote town on the Texas-Mexico border used to enjoy the distinction of being one of the busiest ports for importing Mexican cattle into the U.S.
But citing concerns about escalating drug violence in Mexico, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year moved its cattle inspectors across the Rio Grande into Texas — a decision residents on both sides of the border say has crippled the local livestock industry.
“We feel we’ve been wronged. We feel the area is safe and we’re victims of circumstances [occurring] along many other borders with many issues,” said Carlos Nieto, special projects manager for Presidio, the Texas city across the border from Ojinaga. “In Washington and in [the Mexican presidential palace] Los Pinos, we’re a no-man’s land. They don’t know about our way of life.”
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