Soldiers from the Texas National Guard watch a Border Patrol helicopter hover above a group of civilians wading in the Rio Grande River along the Texas-Mexico border in 2023. More active-duty troops, resources and assets are on their way to the U.S. border with Mexico, White House officials said Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (James Garcia/U.S. Army)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he has empowered the National Guard to make immigration arrests, the latest move by the Republican ally of President Donald Trump to help crack down on immigration and secure the border.
Abbott announced the agreement in a social media post, saying it would take effect immediately. A memorandum of understanding released by the governor’s office said that Texas troops must be accompanied by a Customs and Border Protection officer when enforcing immigration policies and notes that the state will pay for all costs tied to the collaboration.
“This boosts manpower for border security,” Abbott said.
Trump has pledged to fulfill his campaign promises to secure the US-Mexico border by completing construction of a wall and through mass deportations. Abbott helped make the issue one of the flashpoints of the 2024 election after sending thousands of migrants from Texas to Democrat-run cities including New York and Chicago, which then struggled financially and logistically to handle the influx.
Trump has declared a national emergency at the southern border and ordered thousands of additional troops to assist with enforcement. He’s also cut off access to asylum and threatened to withhold federal funding for institutions that don’t comply with his executive orders.
On Monday, Trump agreed to delay 25% tariffs against Mexico for one month after his counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, agreed to send 10,000 Mexican national guard offers to the border to help stem the flow of fentanyl and migrants into the US.
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