Texas Governor Greg Abbott gave his approval for President Donald Trump to send 400 members of the Texas National Guard to other states on Sunday evening, which sparked a constitutional dispute that led to federal court involvement and multiple state lawsuits regarding the president's authority to deploy military forces in Democratic-controlled cities without state permission.
Political Clash Ignites Constitutional Crisis
The deployment announcement became public through two opposing social media posts, which started when Illinois Governor JB Pritzker denounced “Trump’s invasion” while asking Abbott to remove Texas National Guard support from Illinois, Oregon, and other states. Abbott issued a complete authorization for the deployment after stating that states must choose between enforcing federal employee protection or allowing the Texas Guard to take responsibility.
Houston Public Media and other news sources report that the incident demonstrates ongoing conflicts between Trump’s immigration enforcement policies and nationwide protests at ICE facilities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum that enables the Texas Guard to mobilize immediately for sixty days, with possible additional deployment periods.
Federal Courts Block Deployment Efforts
A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked all National Guard deployments to the state late Sunday night, preventing the Trump administration from sending troops from any state to Portland. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who received her appointment from Trump, expressed her discontent during an urgent court session by asking if the administration sought to bypass her previous decision, which had stopped Oregon from using its National Guard.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced plans for legal action within 24 hours, stating, “As the federal judge in Oregon recognized, ‘this is a nation of Constitutional law not martial law’”. On Monday, both Illinois and Chicago filed federal lawsuits seeking to block Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, expanding the multistate legal resistance.
“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.” - Federal Judge’s Previous Ruling
Immigration Enforcement Drives Military Response
The National Guard deployments operate in areas where Hegseth’s memo shows experience with violent demonstrations because of immigration enforcement activities. Multiple arrests occurred in Chicago when protesters allegedly used their vehicles to crash into Department of Homeland Security and ICE agent vehicles during demonstrations.
Federal agents conducted dramatic operations in Chicago last week, including rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters during a raid on a five-story apartment building, according to NewsNation reporting. People who lived in the area, along with advocacy organizations, stated that the zip-tied detainees included both minors and American citizens.
Abbott’s Border Security Record
The move represents Abbott’s ongoing expansion of National Guard deployments as part of his border security initiatives. Earlier this year, the Texas governor granted National Guard authority to conduct immigration arrests through an agreement with the Trump administration and deployed over 5,000 troops to protest sites in June.
Before Trump’s second term began, Abbott had already dispatched approximately 10,000 Texas National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of Operation Lone Star, his border security initiative. “Texas currently employs thousands of National Guard personnel to support border security operations, according to Abbott, who shared this information on Sunday through social media.