Riot police have begun amassing on the southern border in Texas moments before President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Offices could be heard saying, "Crossing beyond this point will result in arrest, prosecution, and possible application of force," in footage shared by KFOX14 News.
Newsweek understands that CBP was conducting a training exercise at this time.
Newsweek has contacted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Trump is expected to enact a hardline and aggressive immigration agenda, designed to curb migration and enforce tougher border security measures.
What To Know
The port of entry in downtown El Paso was temporarily closed Monday morning, moments before the inauguration ceremony. Eyewitness footage shared by local media outlets showed heavily armed police units forming barricades near the Paso del Norte International Bridge, a major point of entry connecting El Paso to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
Trump has signed a series of executive orders to address illegal immigration and border security.
The executive orders will include deploying American troops to the southern border, ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, dismantling programs initiated under President Joe Biden, and taking steps to target transnational crime syndicates.
Trump has vowed to deploy state and federal law enforcement agencies to round up undocumented immigrants to be deported under mass removal plans.
White House officials announced that Trump will issue executive orders suspending refugee resettlement for four months and eliminating the option for migrants to claim asylum by establishing a removal process without the possibility of asylum.
Furthermore, Trump will instruct the attorney general to seek the death penalty for the murders of law enforcement officers and for capital offenses committed by illegal immigrants, according to officials.
Trump will order the federal government to quickly restart construction of the border wall, a project that was largely stopped under the Biden administration.
He has already eliminated Biden-era parole policies, including the use of the CBP One app to grant parole to migrants entering the U.S., as well as the parole programs for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV).
These programs allowed 30,000 individuals from these countries to enter the U.S. each month on parole. So far, nearly 1.5 million migrants have been admitted through CHNV and the CBP One app.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said in his inauguration address on Monday: "I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.
"Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gang criminal networks, bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities."
What Happens Next
Border crossings are expected to sharply decline under the Trump administration as he looks to reshape American immigration policy with stricter enforcement measures, new border security initiatives, and a focus on limiting asylum claims, all of which could significantly impact both legal and undocumented immigration patterns.
English (US) ·