While Mexico surpassed China as the top trading partner of the U.S. in 2023, protests from retired railroad workers at the U.S.-Mexico border show that trade between the countries may not always be smooth sailing.

According to the Railway Union Reconstruction Front (FERRO), the former rail workers held protests and blockades at three U.S.-Mexico border crossings linked to Arizona and Texas on Wednesday, seeking unpaid benefits and severance pay, and more communication from the federal government.

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The blockades by the former rail workers have roots all the way back to 1997, when the Mexican government privatized its state-run railroad. At the time, roughly 3,000 workers opted for retirement, while 16,700 workers either resigned or were laid off. Many of the retired or terminated workers claim they have not received benefits or severance payments stemming from the privatization.

In 2022, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree for the former railroad workers for back pay and benefits. But despite López Obrador’s decree, FERRO leaders said in a press conference that the promise has not been fulfilled by the country’s Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB), and that it “lacks a start date and has been relegated to an indefinite status.”

Protests and blockades occurred in three separate transportation areas in Mexico neighboring the U.S. They took place at the World Trade International Bridge connecting Laredo, Texas, with Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge connecting El Paso, Texas, and Cuidad Juarez; and the Mariposa Port of Entry connecting the twin cities of Nogales, located on both sides of the border.

“There is a protest by retired railroad workers taking place on the Mexico side of World Trade Bridge that is currently impeding all north and southbound commercial truck traffic,” stated an email from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to the trade community.

According to Mexican officials, freight traffic at the World Trade International Bridge stopped for about five hours.

The U.S.-Mexico border has been a major point of contention in the political world, with border security and illegal immigration serving as some of the biggest issues in the looming 2024 U.S. presidential election. The subject has gotten so combative that House Republicans voted Tuesday to impeach U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his oversight of the border.