Texas and California National Guard Returning Home, Governors Say

The withdrawal comes after Trump faced challenges in court to his use of the National Guard.

National Guard members walk at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Broadview facility in Chicago on Oct. 9, 2025. Jeenah Moon/Reuters

Texas and California National Guardsmen who had been deployed to Chicago and Portland, Oregon are returning home, the two states’ governors have said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Nov. 22 that his state’s National Guard troops—who had been sent to Chicago with Abbott’s support—have been told to return to their home state this week.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom—whose Guardsmen had been sent to Portland without his blessing—confirmed on Nov. 16 that California National Guard troops were also coming back home.

“We’re glad they’re finally coming home. It’s long overdue,” Newsom’s spokesperson said.

The withdrawal from Portland comes after Trump faced challenges in court to his use of the National Guard there, as judges have questioned the administration’s claims about the justification for such activity.

Federal judges had also restricted Trump’s use of the National Guard in Portland ahead of the announcement that National Guardsmen would be pulled back from the city.

During an event on Saturday, Abbott, referring to the Texas National Guard troops who were deployed to Illinois in October, told reporters with local news outlets that “they’ve already been ordered to return before Thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is on Thursday, Nov. 27.

Starting on Oct. 7, the Republican governor ordered hundreds of state National Guard troops to Illinois to protect federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents amid protests as the agents carry out immigration operations in the greater Chicago area.

U.S. Northern Command stated that at the time of deployment in October, 200 Texas National Guard troops would be carrying out duties in the Chicago area.

“Approximately 200 soldiers from various units of the Texas National Guard and approximately 300 soldiers from various units of the Illinois National Guard were activated into a Title 10 status and have arrived in the greater Chicago area,” Northern Command said in a statement in October. “The National Guardsmen were mobilized for an initial period of 60 days and will be under the command and control of the Commander of U.S. Northern Command.”

Title 10 status refers to state National Guard troops being called into federal service.

When the decision was announced, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized Abbott’s move to send his troops and urged him to withdraw them. He was also critical of the Trump administration’s actions in Chicago.

“I call on Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate,” Pritzker said in the statement on Oct. 5. “There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation.”

For more than two months, the Chicago area was the focus of an aggressive operation led by Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who led a similar effort in Los Angeles and is set to do the same in Louisiana.

The Department of Homeland Security has touted more than 3,000 arrests in the city, while the Trump administration has gone on social media to post photos of violent criminals apprehended in immigration operations. The immigration enforcement operation has triggered a number of lawsuits against the federal government.

Last week, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a federal judge’s order that restricted the use of force by agents in Chicago.

Judges on the ruling appeals court panel said that the lower court ruling was “overbroad” and “too prescriptive.” But the Seventh Circuit also cautioned against “overreading” its stay and stated that a quick appeal process could lead to a “more tailored and appropriate” order.

“The preliminary injunction entered by the district court is overbroad,” the appeal court’s panel stated in its ruling on Nov. 19. “In no uncertain terms, the district court’s order enjoins an expansive range of defendants, including the President of the United States, the entire Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and anyone acting in concert with them.”

Also on Nov. 19, officials in the Chicago suburb of Broadview declared a civil emergency after rioters caused injuries to local and state police, issued death threats, and made a bomb threat against a government building, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.