Texas deploys troops and helicopters to border in coordination with Trump administration

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced the deployment of 400 soldiers and a fleet of helicopters to the Texas-Mexico border to bolster federal border security efforts led by President Donald Trump’s administration. The Texas Tactical Border Force, comprising troops, C-130 transport planes, and Chinook helicopters, began its deployment on Monday from military bases in Fort Worth and Houston.

In a statement, Abbott emphasized Texas’s commitment to working with the federal government on immigration and border enforcement.

“Texas has a partner in the White House we can work with to secure the Texas-Mexico border,” Abbott said. “To support that mission, today, I deployed the Texas Tactical Border Force, comprised of hundreds of troops, to work side-by-side with U.S. Border Patrol agents to stop illegal immigrants from entering our country and to enforce immigration laws.”

Abbott also criticized past federal immigration policies, stating, “For the past four years, Texas held the line against the Biden Administration’s border crisis and their refusal to protect Americans. Finally, we have a federal government working to end this crisis.”

The deployment represents a coordinated effort to enhance border security amid ongoing debates over immigration policy. President Trump, who has made immigration a central theme of his 2024 presidential campaign, has recently implemented measures to address illegal border crossings. The administration has resumed deportation flights, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed last week.

“Deportation flights have begun,” Leavitt stated on the social platform X. “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.”

Abbott’s decision to send the Texas Tactical Border Force marks a significant alignment with Trump’s federal initiatives. The troops will join thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers already stationed along the border, working alongside U.S. Border Patrol agents.

As the immigration debate intensifies, this deployment signals a renewed focus on border enforcement and collaboration between state and federal authorities to address illegal immigration.