Editor’s Note: The video above is from KXAN’s newscast on Oct. 7, 2025.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Days after Gov. Greg Abbott announced he authorized troops of the Texas National Guard to deploy to Chicago, affiliate KXAN received questions from viewers on whether sending National Guard members out of the state will affect operations at the Texas-Mexico border.

On Sunday, Oct. 5, Abbott posted on the social media platform X saying he “fully authorized” the deployment of “400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials.” By Tuesday, Oct. 7, troops had already touched down in Chicago.

This all comes after President Donald Trump deployed federal troops to Washington D.C. and Los Angeles and other U.S. cities in a bid to reduce violent crime.

Abbott’s response on X came after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker posted on the social media platform, saying “no officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.”

“You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it,” Abbott said in part in his response.

On Tuesday, Abbott insisted the border will remain secure.

“Texas is using just a small part of our National Guard,” Abbott told Fox News Channel’s America Reports. “We still have thousands of National Guard troops on the border.”

Since Trump started his second term in January, encounters at the southwest borders have dropped significantly this year, according to the U.S. and Customs Border Protection website.

Overall, the encounter data is broken down and includes “U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) Title 8 Apprehensions, Office of Field Operations (OFO) Title 8 Inadmissibles, and Title 42 Expulsions.”

Data from the Fiscal Year Southwest Land Borders Encounters by Month on the CBP website show from October 2024 to October 2025, border encounters in the southwest went from 240,927 to 106,000.

“Title 42 Expulsions refers to individuals encountered by USBP and OFO and expelled to the country of last transit or home country in the interest of public health under Title 42 U.S.C. 265 from March 21, 2020 to May 11, 2023,” the CBP website said.

The data is broken down by demographics for USBP and OFO, as provided by USBP:

• Accompanied Minors (AM)
• Individuals in a Family Unit (FMUA)
• Single Adults
• Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC)

A deeper breakdown of southwest border encounters is available on the USBP website.