The Democrats will each be escorted by law enforcement officers to ensure they return Wednesday, as the state GOP prepares to pass a new congressional map.

Republican lawmakers are expected to quickly pass new voting maps, but Democrats still say they were victorious in the standoff.

Democratic lawmakers who fled their state to stymie Republican plans to redraw political maps at the behest of President Donald Trump announced on Monday they were "returning to Texas on our terms," as the battle lines harden 15 months before the U.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday called a second special session to push through a redrawing of congressional maps to secure up to five more Republican seats in the US House.

At a Fight the Trump Takeover rally in Millennium Park, Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House minority leader, accuses the state's GOP of trying to rig the system and says his colleagues who fled the state are trying to stop Republicans from taking away everyone's voting rights.

Texas Democrats in Chicago have declared victory after a two-week battle to prevent Republicans from redrawing districting maps, sparking national momentum for other states to do the same.

"It's imperative at this moment to use every tool that we have to fight back," Isaiah Martin, a candidate running in Texas's 18th congressional district.