'Side-by-side': Texas deploys hundreds of troops, choppers to help Trump tackle border crisis

Abbott announced that he has ordered the deployment of the Texas Tactical Border Force to the Rio Grande Valley "to coordinate with U.S. Border Patrol under the Trump administration to secure the border."

The force will send 400 additional soldiers, as well as C-130s and Chinook helicopters. That is in addition to the Texas National Guard soldiers already stationed at the border as part of Operation Lone Star, which Abbott launched in 2021 to tackle the then-rising border crisis.

"Texas has a partner in the White House we can work with to secure the Texas-Mexico border," Abbott said in a statement.

"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," he said. "I thank President Donald Trump for his decisive leadership on the southern border and look forward to working with him and his Administration to secure the border and make America safe again."

The efforts come amid a flurry of moves by the Trump administration to push back against illegal immigration and secure the southern border.

Trump ordered the deployment of the military to the border in a day one executive order, along with a slew of other border measures. Troops began arriving in Texas and California on Thursday evening, with approximately 1,500 troops adding to the already 2,500 service members stationed there in response to the border crisis in 2023.

"This represents a 60% increase in active-duty ground forces since President Trump was sworn-in Monday," acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said in a statement late Wednesday.

The new stance on the border was on display on Sunday when a diplomatic spat occurred between the U.S. and Colombia on deportations. Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused to accept deportation flights, but later backtracked after Trump threatened tariffs and other measures.