As Texans go to the polls on Election Day, U.S. Border Patrol is conducting a “crowd control exercise” in El Paso and inviting the media.

The agency’s El Paso Sector invited members of the press to a railroad crossing near the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry Tuesday morning for what it’s calling a “mobile field force demonstration” — the latest conspicuous show of force at the border by the federal government ahead of the midterm elections. President Donald Trump recently ordered thousands of U.S. troops to the border, warning of a coming “invasion” by a caravan of Central American migrants who are currently in southern Mexico.

Last week, Trump also said he ended the practice of “catch and release” for undocumented immigrants — although shelters in El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley said Friday they continued receiving newly-released immigrants. And he said the government plans to erect tent cities to hold undocumented immigrant adults and children.

State Reps. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, and Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, the chair and vice-chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, condemned the timing of the exercise and called on the Border Patrol to cancel it.

“This administration continues to use immigration policy for political purposes,” they said in a written statement. “The made-for-media ‘crowd control’ drill, conducted on Election Day, is a cynical effort to suppress the Latino vote in a region seeing record turnout.”

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

Source: Texas Tribune Blue Left News