(CN) - The U.S. Border Patrol has canceled a "crowd control exercise" in Texas following criticism from civil liberties groups that it could dissuade people from voting.
Border Patrol agent Fidel Baca confirmed Tuesday that the exercise in a Latino neighborhood of El Paso was canceled, but declined to say why.
The Texas Civil Rights Project says the exercise, billed by the Border Patrol as a "mobile field force demonstration," was to be held within a half-mile of a polling site.
The group is seeking an explanation from federal authorities about the intention of the exercise.
The group says in a statement that President Donald Trump "has drummed up anti-immigrant sentiment" and the exercise is "part and parcel of those efforts."
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