It was a change from the Republican governor's legal battles with the Biden administration. Abbott spent the last four years testing a state's ability to enforce immigration law — at times at odds with Border Patrol.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the troops to the Rio Grande Valley, where he said they'll work side-by-side with U.S. Border Patrol agents to keep migrants from illegally entering the country. Some of those troops left from the U.S. Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth Monday morning. The others left from a base in Houston.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is sending hundreds of soldiers in the Texas Military Department to work with the U.S. Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley.