Roughly 20,000 American horses were shipped across the southern border to Mexico for slaughter last year, with much of the resulting meat exported overseas for human consumption. Earlier this year, the Trump administration halted those exports after U.S. officials confirmed New World screwworm, a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, in a working ranch horse in Presidio County, Texas: the first confirmed case in an American horse.

Six House Republicans are now urging President Trump to make that halt permanent, building on an earlier letter signed by sixteen more GOP lawmakers. "The first confirmed case of New World Screwworm in an American horse should be a wake-up call," said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. He warned that resuming long-distance horse movements near the border "is like playing Russian roulette with the American cattle herd in the biggest production states."

The danger goes beyond disease. A Reuters investigation found smugglers moving horses across remote stretches of the border, bypassing the veterinary inspections and quarantine checks meant to catch threats like this one before they cross. American horses serve in sport, law enforcement, therapy, and companionship: they are not raised for slaughter, and a temporary restriction leaves both the animals and American agriculture exposed the moment attention shifts elsewhere.

Congress already has bipartisan support for ending the practice for good: the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act has 230 House cosponsors and 10 Senate cosponsors. Sign the petition to demand President Trump make the horse slaughter export ban to Mexico permanent, before the next screwworm case, or the next smuggled horse, puts the nation's horses and cattle herds at risk again.