Abbott Says Texas National Guard Will Return from Illinois Before Thanksgiving

Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that Texas National Guard members sent to Illinois on Oct. 7 will be recalled before Thanksgiving. The deployment, intended to support ICE amid protests, prompted criticism from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legal challenges over state sovereignty.

A federal court barred the troops from being activated for law-enforcement duties, limiting them to securing their base; the case has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

08:24 PM, 11/23/2025Politics

Abbott Says Texas National Guard Will Return from Illinois Before Thanksgiving

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday that members of the Texas National Guard who were deployed to Illinois on Oct. 7 will be recalled to Texas before Thanksgiving.

They've already been ordered to return before Thanksgiving, Gov. Greg Abbott told Nexstar.

Hundreds of Guard personnel were sent to Illinois after Abbott authorized their deployment to support federal immigration agents and to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities amid protests tied to federal immigration enforcement actions in Chicago and other Illinois cities.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker sharply criticized the move, calling it an "invasion" and urging Abbott to withdraw the troops. Critics note that it is highly unusual for a governor to send a state National Guard to another state without that state's invitation, and some Democrats contend such deployments raise constitutional and state-sovereignty concerns.

A federal court ruled that the Texas Guard troops could not be "activated" to perform law-enforcement duties in Illinois but could remain in the state; that decision has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not yet issued a ruling. Because of the court order, Guard members did not carry out active enforcement operations and were limited to securing their base at a U.S. Army Reserve training center.

This development resolves the immediate question of how long the troops will remain in Illinois, but the underlying legal dispute over the limits of interstate National Guard deployments remains pending before the nation's highest court.

Abbott Says Texas National Guard Will Return from Illinois Before Thanksgiving

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