I admit, I giggled a little at this.
Image credit: RubberBall Productions via Getty Images
Since January, Texas area CBP officers have encountered more than 90 people attempting to import raw eggs from Mexico.
As egg prices in the U.S. are hitting record highs, the price of eggs in Mexico is well below half of U.S. prices.
One Instagram user in Mexico City posted a video showing off a dozen eggs costing 41 pesos which is about the equivalent of two U.S. dollars.
But U.S. officials are warning Americans not to scramble across the border looking for a sunny side up bargain.
Donald R. Kusser, director of field operations at CBP’s Laredo Field Office, took to social media with a public plea asking ports of entry crossers to lay off the eggs.
“Travelers are prohibited from bringing fresh eggs, raw chicken, or live birds into the United States from Mexico,” the video message said. “Failure to declare may lead to potential fines.”
Texas Area CBP agriculture specialists issued 16 civil penalties totaling almost $4,000 linked to the attempted smuggling of prohibited agriculture and food products, including raw eggs, according to a CBP news release.
The rate of attempts to illegally bring eggs across the border has escalated in the past year. Between October 2024 and February 2025, the number of eggs confiscated at U.S. ports of entry was 29% higher than it was in the period the year before.
There are legitimate reasons why eggs are prohibited items at the border, bird flu being a big one. But the thought of these hard-boiled CBP agents (sorry, not sorry) staging a photo op in front of several dozen confiscated eggs, as they would for a major drug bust, makes me crack a smile (no, seriously, I’m not going to apologize). Anyway, here’s a little tribute to a time when smuggling was more serious business.
Now back to our regular programming.
To quote a comedian, “The leader of the egg cartel is Pablo Eggs-cobar,
If the reason for prohibiting eggs from Mexico is worries about bird flu, I would say that is no longer a very compelling reason.
A lot of food quarantine rules came about back when our food supply was better regulated than those of other countries. Generally that seems less likely to be true now than it was a few decades ago.
Joel, I think it’s broader than just bird flu – bringing anything biological across the border introduces the risk of some new invasive coming with it – but I think your larger point has merit. I’d support a review of the rules to see what could safely be modified. Well, I’d support a sane and science-forward administration doing that kind of review. Not this one.