We are safe, we are secure, and we are undeterred,” said caucus leaders after police searched the hotel where some of the lawmakers who had fled Texas were staying.

Texas Democrats are in Illinois to block a vote on a new congressional map that aims to shore up Republicans power in Congress.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has warned Texas authorities that police cannot come into his state to arrest Texas Democrats who fled the state to stymie a vote on a redrawn redistricting map.