"Border czar" Tom Homan announced that Texas National Guard troops began operations Tuesday in Illinois to protect federal immigration officers amid what he described as a sharp rise in attacks targeting ICE personnel.
"They’re on the ground, and they started working last night," Homan confirmed on "America Reports" Wednesday.
About 200 members of the Texas National Guard were mobilized for the mission, which the Pentagon says is intended to protect federal "functions, personnel and property."
TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYS 200 TROOPS TO ILLINOIS FOR FEDERAL PROTECTION MISSION AMID PROTESTS
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson push back on Trump’s plan to send National Guard and boost ICE enforcement in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The deployment follows more than a dozen arrests near an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, where anti-ICE protests have continued for several days.
"Thank God for Governor Abbott," said Homan.
"He's sending troops out there to help protect ICE officers who have [seen] over [a] 1,000% increase in attacks."
But Illinois leaders have strongly opposed the move.
Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have accused federal immigration officers of both harassment and racial profiling.
"Let me be clear, Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities," Pritzker said Monday, standing alongside Johnson.
"The state of Illinois is going to use every lever at our disposal to resist this power grab and get Noem’s thugs the hell out of Chicago."
Homan blasted the governor’s comments as "disgusting," arguing that this level of rhetoric has fueled recent violence against law enforcement.
He pointed to three separate attacks in Texas, including an officer shot in the neck at a detention facility in Alvarado and a sniper attack in Dallas that killed two detainees.
Texas National Guard troops assembled at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, Illinois, on October 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The Department of Homeland Security also pushed back on Pritzker’s claims, calling them "reckless" and "categorically false."
In a statement, DHS said agents have arrested more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in Illinois, including convicted pedophiles, child abusers and gang members.
"What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity," they wrote in a statement online.
Homan said he’s been warning for months that anti-law enforcement rhetoric would lead to tragedy.
"I said back in March that if the hateful rhetoric didn’t stop from politicians, from mayors, and governors, and some members of Congress, there will be bloodshed," Homan said.
"Unfortunately, I was right."