United States police officers carried out exercises with barbed wire and concrete blocks at a border crossing with Mexico on Friday.
The exercises caused a 40-minute stoppage at vehicle crossings on an international bridge linking Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.
According to an AFP journalist, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents carried out the training as part of their preparedness measures.
A statement from the CBP office in El Paso noted that such exercises began in 2019 to ensure that agents are prepared for possible border incidents.
However, local residents in Ciudad Juárez have seen an increase in these activities ahead of Trump's inauguration on Monday. Trump has pledged to implement the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants in US history.
“This is the second closure I've seen this week,” said Yadira Martínez, one of several people waiting to cross the border.
Ciudad Juárez serves as a major entry point for migrants seeking refuge from poverty, violence or political instability in their home countries. It is also one of the official places to file asylum applications through the US government's CBP One mobile app.
In response to growing concerns, the Mexican border city of Tijuana recently declared a state of emergency to allocate resources to handle the potential influx of deportees.
Trump, who has frequently referred to the arrival of immigrants as an “invasion,” has promised to declare a national emergency at the border and expel millions of people who lack residency documents after taking office.