By pandering to those who want to make America White Again, Greg Abbott focused on the wrong invaders. Now our state may suffer tens of billions of dollars in damage
While Abbott devoted enormous money, manpower, and political attention to portraying migrants as the invasion—Operation Lone Star has operated since 2021, and Texas says it has spent more than $11 billion on border enforcement—two genuine biological invaders were moving into Texas.
The pasture mealybug was probably introduced before 2022, went unidentified for years, and is now confirmed in 70 Texas counties. Texas A&M says it could cause annual losses ranging from about $100 million to more than $1 billion, with another $1–2 billion potentially required to replant damaged pastures. Those are projections, not guaranteed losses, but the danger is real.
The New World screwworm was confirmed in Texas in June 2026. If it becomes reestablished rather than contained, Texas A&M has estimated potential losses of roughly $2.1 billion to the cattle industry and $9 billion to hunting and wildlife. USDA is actively trying to eradicate it, so those billions are a worst-case threat, not yet an accomplished fact.
So the line is not that Abbott caused them to enter, or that agricultural officials did nothing. The sharper truth is:
While Abbott was watching the river for human invaders, the invaders capable of costing Texas billions arrived on wings and hid in the grass.
