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By Robert Birsel
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The Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, authorized President Donald Trump to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployment in protecting federal officers, rejecting an appeal from his Illinois counterpart JB Pritzker not to cooperate with or support Trump’s plans to send troops to Illinois.
Newsweek contacted the White House by email after office hours to seek clarification on the president's National Guard deployment plans.
Why It Matters
The Trump administration is ramping up immigration enforcement operations in Chicago despite the objections of the Democratic Governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, raising concerns about more violence after an incident on Saturday in which officers on a patrol shot and wounded a woman in the course of an altercation.
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Abbott’s support for Trump’s mobilization of National Guard troops heralds deeper splits between Republican and Democratic states over support for the administration's immigration policy.
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What To Know
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a memo Sunday that, in response to an authorization from the president, he is calling up to 400 members of the Texas National Guard into federal service in Chicago and Portland, Orgeon, for up to 60 days, NBC News reported.
Abbot said he supported the move.
“I fully authorized the President to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials,” Abbott said in a post on X.
He did not say where the troops would be deployed but he attached the appeal from Pritzker not to support Trump’s deployment to his post, adding: “You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it.”
Pritzker in his appeal earlier on Sunday said no federal officials had contacted him over the deployment.
“This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States,” Pritzker said on X.
“We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion...I call on Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate. There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation."
Pritzker has said repeatedly there is no need for troops on the ground in Illinois but his appeal followed a sharp escalation in tensions between federal officers and protesters on the weekend.
On Saturday, law enforcement officers on patrol in Chicago “fired defensive shots” at “an armed U.S. citizen” after multiple vehicles “boxed in” federal agents on patrol, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, said Marimar Martinez, 30, was shot and wounded in the encounter. Both she and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, 21, have been “charged in federal court with using their vehicles to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago.”
The Democratic-run state of Oregon, which is also opposed to Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in response to protests outside an ICE facility in the city of Portland, won a legal victory on Saturday when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order halting the administration’s plan to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland.
The state of Oregon and city of Portland had argued the deployment violated both federal law and the Constitution by using military force where no significant threat or insurrection was present. The court ruling remains effective at least through October 18, pending further argument.
What People Are Saying
Pritzker said in a post on X on Sunday: “It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Newsweek in a Saturday email: “Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets. President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”
What Happens Next
Illinois is expected to file legal action against the Trump administration’s deployment plans but in the meantime tensions could rise on the streets with federal agents stepping up their patrols and protests showing no signs of dying down.
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