Texas National Guard can stay in Illinois but can’t activate, court says. Here’s what to know about the unit.

By Alejandro Serrano, Alex Nguyen and Colleen DeGuzman, The Texas Tribune
“Texas National Guard can stay in Illinois but can’t activate, court says. Here’s what to know about the unit.” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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Hundreds of Texas-based National Guards deployed this week to Illinois to boost federal authorities can stay there, but can’t be activated, a federal judge ruled on Oct. 11.

“Members of the National Guard do not need to return to their home states unless further ordered by a court to do so,” the latest ruling states.

This comes after fierce pushback from local residents and Democratic leaders in both Texas and Illinois who have called the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard — with the blessing of Gov. Greg Abbott — unlawful. On Oct. 9, U.S. District Judge April Perry temporarily blocked the guard from being deployed, but the Trump administration appealed the decision, prompting the subsequent ruling.

In a Fox News interview on Oct. 6, 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.

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment after Perry issued her ruling and order.

Around 200 members from different units of the Texas Guard are currently in Illinois, according to an update from the U.S. Northern Command. It also says that the troops were “mobilized for an initial period of 60 days and will be under the command and control of the Commander of U.S. Northern Command.” After the initial ruling, the Department of Defense said the federalized National Guard troops “will remain in a federalized status,” though it declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

Some troops were already at an immigration building in the Chicago suburb of Broadview when Perry heard arguments on Oct. 9. The building has been the site of occasional clashes between protesters and agents.

Perry said the actions of the Department of Homeland Security are largely rooted in President Donald Trump’s “animus toward Illinois elected officials.” She expressed skepticism of the federal government’s characterization of protests in Broadview.

“DHS’s narrative of events is simply unreliable,” she said.

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.

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 Oct. 5, 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.

The same day, a federal judge temporarily barred the deployment of any state guards to Oregon. A three-judge panel — which includes two Trump nominees — from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals then heard arguments on Oct. 9 about the mobilization, but has yet to issue a ruling.

Illinois sued on Oct. 6, saying that the federal government can still enforce its laws in the state and conditions have not been met to justify the mobilization. A federal judge then granted a partial temporary block three days later.

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 an Oct. 7 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 on Oct. 7, according to The Chicago Tribune.

“The elite Texas National Guard are on the ground and ready to go,” Abbott said in a post on X. “They are putting America first by ensuring that the federal government can safely enforce federal law.”

The following day, the U.S. Northern Command said in an update that troops were active in the greater Chicago area effective Oct. 8. It says they are tasked with protecting ICE and other federal officers who are enforcing federal laws, as well as safeguarding federal properties. Troops may also “temporarily detain” individuals to stop them from interfering with federal officers, but they will not be performing arrests because “that is a law enforcement activity,” the command said.

Some Texas guards were then seen at the Broadview ICE facility, according to local media.

Christine Fernando and Sudhin Thanawala of the Associated Press contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/08/texas-national-guard-abbott-deployment-chicago/.

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