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Hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers arrived in Illinois on Tuesday — with the blessing of Gov. Greg Abbott — to boost federal immigration authorities as the Trump administration doubled down on the midwestern state, despite fierce pushback from local residents and the state’s Democratic leaders who have called the president’s action unlawful.
In a Fox News interview Monday night, Abbott said that the National Guard troops were being deployed to “safeguard” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The Trump administration over the last month has flooded Chicago with ICE agents who have been using increasingly aggressive methods to go after undocumented immigrants — drawing sharp protests from local officials and advocates for immigrants’ rights that in some instances has escalated to violent clashes on the streets.
There were 200 Texas guards in Illinois as of Tuesday, according to Texas Democratic lawmakers and as well as other outlets citing anonymous sources.
Since the Chicago-area crackdown began about a month ago, ICE has apprehended more than 1,000 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally. U.S. citizens and children have been caught up in raids and altercations between masked federal agents and locals in the nation’s third largest city.
“The president has the constitutional responsibility to enforce the laws of the United States, and those laws include the immigration laws,” Abbott told Sean Hannity. “The president has the authority to call up National Guard to assist in enforcing those laws, and that’s exactly what the president is doing and what Texas is doing — we’re assisting the president in that cause.”
The leveraging of soldiers to help Trump carry out his promised mass deportations of undocumented people echoes a vision the president laid out on the campaign trail, when he pitched an approach of using multiple levels of authority much like former President Dwight Eisenhower’s infamous immigration crackdown.
Texas Military Department officials deferred comment Tuesday to the Pentagon, whose spokespersons did not respond to an emailed list of questions that included what exactly the Texas troops will be doing in Illinois or how much the deployment would cost.
Here is what you need to know:
What is the Texas National Guard?
The Texas National Guard, made up of more than 20,000 soldiers, is overseen by the Texas Military Department. Guard members are often deployed in response to natural disasters, and in the past have helped rescue people stranded by floodwaters after a hurricane and delivered basic necessities to communities ravaged by storms.
The Military Department’s mission is to provide the president and the governor with “ready forces in support of state and federal authorities at home and abroad,” according to TMD.
The governor has the authority to deploy the Guard as its commander-in-chief. Additionally, a president can take control of troops to deploy them as the nation’s top executive sees fit.
Trump’s federalization of Texas’ troops was blessed by Abbott, who authorized the request.
When has the Texas National Guard been used for non-traditional deployments?
No mission has drawn as much attention to the Texas National Guard or been drenched in politics more than Operation Lone Star.
Abbott launched the border security mission in 2021 in response to what he characterized as the Biden administration’s “open border” immigration policies. The mission became a long-term domestic military deployment, as the governor surged thousands of troops to the 1,254 miles of border that Texas shares with Mexico.
While it was not the first time that military personnel had been deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border, the deployment was unique due to the large number of troops quickly dispatched for an indefinite period of time. Also while soldiers in previous federal operations had provided logistical support roles, Texas tested the boundaries of how much immigration enforcement a state could undertake.
The Operation Lone Star deployment was initially defined by its messiness: Troops reported deplorable conditions for a mission that upended their lives.
It was also accompanied by scandal and questions of authority. Guard members were accused of spying on migrants, started shooting would-be border crossers with pepper ball irritants and helped block federal immigration authorities from parts of the border — dragging the Biden administration into court over a constitutional dispute as courts had long held that federal authorities have sole jurisdiction over the enforcement of immigration laws.
Earlier this year, Abbott directed the Guard to help the Trump administration with its immigration crackdown. The Guard is one of two statewide agencies that entered into an agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement which grants it limited authority to enforce immigration laws during regular duties.
In June, the governor deployed 5,000 soldiers across the state in anticipation of massive protests in the state’s largest cities against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Guard members can augment local police in certain circumstances — like during civil unrest — but federal law prohibits the use of troops as civilian law enforcement.
Is it legal for the Texas National Guard to be used for non-state purposes?
Under Title 10 U.S.C. § 12406, the president is able to call upon the National Guard in the case of an invasion, a rebellion or the danger of one, or if the federal government cannot execute its laws “with the regular forces.”
On Sunday, the Texas governor said he “fully authorized” such a deployment.
“You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it,” Abbott said in a post on X.
Trump’s attempts to federalize some blue states’ guards over their objections have, however, resulted in lawsuits.
On Sunday, a federal judge temporarily barred the deployment of any state guards to Oregon. The order is currently set to expire on Oct. 19, and there would be another hearing on Oct. 17 to decide whether the block should be extended.
Illinois then sued on Monday, saying that the federal government can still enforce its laws in the state and conditions have not been met to justify the mobilization. But a federal judge declined to immediately block the deployment there, and the next court hearing is on Thursday.
Ten Democratic U.S. representatives from Texas have called Trump’s deployment of national guards unlawful. They also said it set a bad precedent that could undermine Texas’ ability to resist deployment from other states in the future.
“If any other state deployed their National Guard to Texas without our consent, we would call that an invasion of Texas,” the lawmakers said in a Tuesday letter to Abbott.
Amid challenges against his use of the National Guard, Trump has also discussed invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 if necessary, which would allow the president to use the military for civilian law enforcement. But it can only be used under specific situations, such as when requested by a state or when “unlawful obstructions, combinations or assemblages or rebellion … make it impracticable” to enforce federal laws.
The Insurrection Act was last invoked in response to the 1992 Los Angeles riots following an aid request from California’s governor, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
What do we know about what the Texas National Guard is doing in Illinois?
Texas Guard members were sighted in the Chicago area Tuesday morning, according to The Chicago Tribune.
It was not immediately clear what exactly the guards will be tasked with under their mandate of protecting federal officials, including ICE officers in Illinois. The Pentagon didn’t respond Tuesday to a request for comment from The Texas Tribune. Though in a photo Abbott shared Monday evening, they could be seen wearing full military gear and carrying riot shields.
“The elite Texas National Guard are on the ground and ready to go,” Abbott said in a Tuesday post on X. “They are putting America first by ensuring that the federal government can safely enforce federal law.”
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