Some 400 additional soldiers, as well as C-130 aircraft and Chinook helicopters, departed from military bases in Fort Worth and Houston after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state's Tactical Border Force to deploy to the Rio Grande Valley to coordinate with the U.S. Border Patrol in securing the border with Mexico, the Governor's Office announced in a statement on Monday.

The forces are joining up with thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers already deployed to secure the border in collaboration with U.S. Border Patrol agents.

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

The governor emphasized that "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. 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 Texas Tactical Border Force began operations two years ago as part of Abbott's overall border security strategy. During this time, Texas has deployed thousands of the state's National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to the border in order to combat both illegal immigrants trying to cross into the United States, as well as prevent large amounts of fentanyl from entering the country, according to the statement.

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