AM Minnesota Tuesday: Rancher On the U.S.-Mexico Border

Early in January I was at the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to all the meetings and breakout sessions, there was a large trade show set up. In the trade show area a number of state Farm Bureaus set up booths. One of those was the Arizona Farm Bureau, which is where I met Jim Chilton. Jim is a fifth-generation rancher in Arizona. Jim's ranch is along the U.S. border with Mexico. I recorded an interview with Jim that will be on KDHL's AM Minnesota on Tuesday.

Securing the border between the United States and Mexico has been controversial, to say the least. It seems about half of Americans are in favor of building a wall, the other half are opposed. Some Americans think we should have secure borders and know about who enters the country. Others think we should have open borders and welcome all who want to come to the United States. Just to complicate the issue even more, the agriculture industry relies on a foreign labor force.

My understanding before talking with Jim was that most who were coming across the border from Mexico into the United States were coming here to live and work. They wanted a better life for themselves and their families. Right now, Jim says the majority of those coming through his ranch are drug traffickers controlled by Mexican drug cartels. Jim says the cartel will also bring people from other countries into the United States for a fee that depends on which country you are from - $3,000 from Mexico, $7,000 from Central America. Here is one rancher's take on the situation, based on what he sees on his property.

When I began to talk with Jim, I was not thinking about recording it for an AM Minnesota program. Then I noticed it was about 18 minutes long. So, instead of staring it at 9:30 and have to break it up for the market report, I will start the interview after the market report at 9:38 Tuesday morning. In addition, it will be posted on our YouTube channel later Tuesday.