It must be because the cattle are being claimed as pets, especially in Springfield Ohio. Apparently, immigrants bringing diseased cattle across the border under Joe Biden are why beef is expensive. Screwworm, not Screwtape, Scotty. Don’t have a Mad Cow. The federal failure to properly quarantine travelers coming to the East Coast in the first days allowed a greater spread of COVID in the US under Trump. Blaming ‘foreigners’ for spreading disease is an old fascist trope. Scotty has taken it to its most absurd expression today.
Brian Allen @allenanalysis
Scott Bessent is now claiming beef prices are high because immigrants are smuggling diseased cattle from South America across the border.
This is what happens when you run out of economic arguments, you just start inventing barnyard fan fiction.
In a Fox Business interview on November 16, 2025, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attributed rising U.S. beef prices to mass immigration introducing the New World screwworm parasite via cattle transported by migrants, resulting in a shutdown of Mexican beef imports. Experts and fact-checks refute any evidence of immigrants smuggling cattle, attributing the parasite's spread in Mexico to natural migration and containment issues. Actual price increases arise from a U.S. cattle herd at its lowest since 1951, driven by droughts, high feed costs, and low inventory, with Bessent's comments sparking widespread ridicule on X.
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Steak prices are up significantly up across the board. Filet up 56% since last November.
Omaha Steaks CEO: We are headed for $10 a pound ground beef in the grocery store. I don't think we will see prices come down in any meaningful way until sometime in 2027
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— The Lincoln Project (@lincolnproject.us) Nov 16, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Yes, broad inflation in the US is pressuring all prices, but beef has risen specifically due to USDA restrictions on Mexican imports because of the screwworm, a devastating parasite. Bessent attributes the worsening to South American immigrants who bring cattle infected with it across the border, creating real biosanitary risks confirmed by official reports. Ground beef prices are already at US$6.32/lb, with potential for US$10, and this doesn't ignore general inflation, but focuses on an avoidable cause. GROK
