Texas National Guard troops are returning home from Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon after weeks of heated political debate and a federal judge blocking activation of the units.
On Oct. 8, President Trump called for the Texas troops to safeguard federal agents carrying out deportation efforts, using protests against ICE to justify the deployment.
A federal judge immediately blocked the troopers from activating in the city but allowed the guard to remain in Illinois as the legal fight continued. The case between Illinois and the federal government has reached the Supreme Court, where it remains pending.
Pentagon officials decided to withdraw the outof- state soldiers “rather than have them continue to sit in a costly limbo separated from their families during the holiday season.” National Guard presence in Chicago has cost taxpayers at least $4 million dollars, according to estimates In a letter, eight Texan members of Congress urged Abbott to withdraw the Texas National Guard from deployment out of state, stating “Texans did not join the National Guard to be used as a political weapon aimed at fellow American citizens in another state. Turning them into a domestic police force in another state – specially over that state’s objections – erodes public trust and undermines the Guard’s core mission.”