U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said in a statement that the agency intercepted rare insects in a shipment of fresh celery at the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility.

The find is a first-in-port discovery.

According to a press release from CBP, the fresh celery shipment arrived at the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility on January 16.

“During initial inspection, a CBP Officer referred the driver and cargo load for an intensive agriculture inspection,” the statement said. “At the inspection area, CBP Agriculture Specialists conducted thorough examinations and found one live chrysomelidae and one live lepidoptera within the shipment of celery.”

Upon finding the rare pests, the shipment was turned around and sent back to Mexico.

“The pest was submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Identifiers for further identification,” CBP said. “The traveler and shipment were then returned directly to Mexico.”

Two days after the initial stop, on January 18, the lepidoptera was identified by the local USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) PPQ Entomologist as actionable Copitarsia species. The chrysomelidae was later identified by national specialists as actionable Isotes multipunctate (Jacoby), according to the press release.

The CBP said that “per local USDA APHIS PPQ, this qualifies as a ‘first-in-port’ for Isotes multipunctate (Jacoby) in the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility.”

“Although this not the first time finding this pest nationwide, it is a first-time discovery of this pest at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The impressive find demonstrates CBP’s efforts to prevent invasive species from entering the United States, and ways for industry to prevent conveyance contamination. CBP encourages travelers to declare all agricultural items to a CBP officer upon arrival. For more information, travelers are encouraged to visit the Bringing Agricultural Products into the United States section of the CBP website.”

Foreign pests can be extremely harmful to local agriculture.

“Foreign insects, plant and animal diseases, and invasive plants, can be harmful to United States agriculture. It is an important part of the CBP mission to identify and stop pests and diseases at the border prior to entering the country,” said Rosa Hernandez, CBP Otay Mesa Port Director.

The post Rare Pests Discovered by CBP Agriculture Specialists in Celery Shipment, Promptly Deported Back to Mexico appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Public schools are failing all over the country. States like Illinois and Maryland have barely any students performing at grade level.

Schools seem more concerned with pushing woke garbage about ‘equity’ than teaching basic skills.

Despite all of these problems, far left crank Bernie Sanders is demanding more money for teachers. He wants a minimum salary of 60K for all teachers.

The Hill reports:

Sanders calls for minimum salary of $60,000 for public school teachers

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called for a minimum salary of $60,000 for public school teachers, capitalizing on the push by President Biden in his State of the Union speech to give public school teachers a raise.

“We should be paying public school teachers a minimum of at least $60,000 a year,” Sanders said at a town hall at the Capitol on Monday night with national teachers union leaders. “I am proud to tell you I will soon be introducing legislation to do just that.”

Sanders’s call for a minimum salary for public school teachers comes after Biden made a pitch for a number of education policies during his State of the Union, including providing increased access to preschool and giving teachers a raise.

“If you want to have the best-educated workforce, let’s finish the job by providing access to preschool for 3- and 4-years-old,” Biden said in the speech. “Let’s give public-school teachers a raise.”

Sanders blasted the pay of public school teachers in the U.S., and cited rising levels of stress and increasing trends of teachers quitting as the reason why the federal government needed to support them.

He sure is good at spending other people’s money, isn’t he?

I do not think we should accept it as 'normal' in our society that billionaires get massive tax breaks while teachers in this country have to work a second job just to make ends meet.

We must pay all teachers in America at least $60,000.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 13, 2023

Increase teacher pay to a minimum of $60,000 a year. pic.twitter.com/TklJaasZbc

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 15, 2023

Is he ever going to retire?

The post Bernie Sanders Calls For Minimum Pay Of $60,000 For All School Teachers Despite Failing Public Schools appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.