一些得克萨斯州众议院民主党人计划在州议会大厦过夜，以声援州众议员妮可·科利尔，并与她一起拒绝为他们授权的执法护送，因为他们打破了阻止众议院共和党人的法定人数改变该州的国会地图让五个地区对共和党更友好。
周二下午，在众议院会议厅外的一次媒体见面会上，他们中的一些人撕毁了同意陪同的文件。
科利尔是离开该州以打破法定人数并阻止对拟议地图进行投票的民主党人之一，她在拒绝同意陪同后，于周一晚上被限制在众议院。
民主党众议员彭妮·莫拉莱斯·肖在新闻发布会上对记者说:“这是不合法的，这是对权力的错误使用，我不会宽恕它，我不想成为为未来立法者树立一个非常糟糕和低下的先例的一部分。”
肖在众议院会议厅外与州众议员Rhetta Andrews Bowers，Cassandra Hernandez和Mihaela普莱萨在一起。
众议员Rhetta Andrews Bowers告诉记者，“我们走进来，我们没有逃避任何事情。我们没有逃避任何事情。因此，我要明确表示，这是对我们作为得克萨斯人、美国人和正式当选官员的自由的公然侵犯。”
鲍尔斯说，执法护送是浪费纳税人的钱，他补充说:“我们是德克萨斯州人民的代表。那些资源现在属于德克萨斯人，在毁灭性的洪水中失去一切的山区家庭需要我们的帮助。然而，这些钱没有用于救灾，而是被用于持续的(公共安全部)巡逻。”
一些民主党人周一回到州议会，并允许立法机构达到法定人数，但他们继续反对有争议的重划选区。
唐纳德·特朗普总统推动的重划选区计划很可能会通过。根据最新的众议院日历，众议院将于周三审议包含新地图的法案。该法案是在第一次特别会议因不够法定人数而休会后新提交给第二次特别会议的，于周一在委员会通过。
埃尔南德斯说，其他同事正在前往国会大厦过夜，并计划明天在众议院反对该法案。她没有具体说明有多少人正在路上，也没有说明他们什么时候会出现。
她说:“所以，当我们在这里为民主开睡衣派对的时候，你会看到我们将在地板上工作，制定战略，确保我们明天将战斗进行到底，我们不会允许他们继续让我们的社区保持沉默，剥夺我们作为正式当选的官员代表我们当选代表的人民的能力。”。
科利尔和众议院民主党党团主席众议员基因吴张贴了一个X上的视频周二记录了他们和他们的同事，州众议员文斯佩雷斯，如何在周一晚上睡在办公室。
“我们组装了两张椅子。[吴]睡在两把椅子上。我睡在两把椅子上。我们的另一个同事文斯·佩雷斯睡在几把椅子上，”科利尔在X视频中说。
吴确实签署了弃权书，他在自己的帖子中说，他与佩雷斯和科利尔一起支持“#goodtrouble”，指的是已故的民主党众议员约翰·刘易斯。
“我们知道这是一个#受限制的过程。民主党人是不会放弃的!”他发帖了。
科利尔附和了这一说法。
更多:视频得克萨斯州代表说，她被锁在州众议院在重划斗争之后
“我认为他们需要找到他们的阻力，”她说她的支持者。"找到你的声音和你的反抗，这将改变美国."
普莱萨说，科利尔已经得到了全国人民的支持和呼吁，包括前副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯。
据这位前副总统的代表说，哈里斯周二打电话给科利尔，给了她鼓励的话。
“不管发生什么，我们都和你在一起。我们支持你，”哈里斯告诉科利尔。
众议院议长·达斯汀·布伦斯在周二的一份声明中回应了科利尔的行为，他说，“根据众议院的规定，众议员科利尔选择留下来而不签署许可协议是她的权利。”
“我选择把我的时间集中在推动重要的立法上，呼吁全面检查难民营的安全，提供财产税改革和消除STAAR测试——德克萨斯人关心的结果，”他补充说。
得克萨斯州众议院民主党核心小组的一名发言人告诉美国广播公司新闻，如果科利尔不签署表格，她最早将被困在国会大厦，直到周三，因为这是众议院可以改变规则的最早时间。
科利尔周一告诉美国广播公司新闻，她为自己和她的选民表明了立场。
“听着，我不是罪犯。我已经行使了我的权利，我厌倦了政府控制我们的运动，所以这只不过是政府对行使宪法权利进行抵抗的人进行控制，”她说。
科利尔说，她对DPS官员本身没有意见，因为他们是受州共和党领导人的命令护送选定的民主党人;然而，她对最初下达的指令感到愤怒。
“当我不同意我们政府的行动时，我厌倦了被推来推去，被告知该做什么，”她说。
“你不必这样做。你不必深究你所造成的伤害。你会得到你想要的，”科利尔在谈到共和党领导层时说。“这只是琐碎和不必要的，我不认为这是公平的。这是对我个人和我的社区的贬低，我不会接受的。”
More Texas Democrats will sleep in the state Capitol to protest police escorts amid redistricting fight
A handful of Texas House Democrats plan to stay overnight in the State Capitol in solidarity with state Rep. Nicole Collier -- joining her in refusing law enforcement escorts mandated for them because they had broken quorum to prevent House Republicans fromchanging the state's congressional mapsto make five districts more GOP-friendly.
A few of them tore up their paperwork to consent to an escort during a media availability outside the House chamber Tuesday afternoon.
Collier, one of the Democrats who left the state to break quorum and prevent voting on the proposed maps, was confined to the House Monday night after she refused to agree to an escort.
Democratic state Rep. Penny Morales Shaw told reporters at a news conference, "This is illegitimate, this is a wrongful use of power and I will not condone it, and I don't want to be a part of setting a very bad and low precedent for future legislators."
Shaw was joined by state Reps. Rhetta Andrews Bowers, Cassandra Hernandez and Mihaela Plesa outside the House chamber.
Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers told reporters, “We walked in, we are not running from anything. We have not been running from anything this entire time. So I want to be clear that this is a blatant violation of our freedoms as Texans, as Americans, and of duly elected officials.”
Saying the law enforcement escort was a waste of taxpayer dollars, Bowers added, “We are representatives of the people of Texas. Those resources belong to Texans right now, families in the Hill Country who lost everything to devastating floods need our help. Yet, instead of providing relief, those dollars are being spent on constant [Department Public Safety] patrols.”
Some Democrats returned to the statehouse on Monday and allowed the legislature to reach a quorum, but they continued to speak out against the controversial redistricting.
It is likely that the redistricting plan, which was pushed by President Donald Trump, will pass. The House is set to consider the bill containing the new maps on Wednesday, according to an updated House calendar. The bill, which was newly filed for the second special session after the first one was adjourned due to not having a quorum, passed out of committee on Monday.
Hernandez said that other colleagues are heading to the Capitol to stay overnight and plan to fight the bill when they are on the House floor tomorrow. She did not specify how many were en route or when they could show up.
"So while we're in here, doing our slumber party for democracy, you will see that we will be working on the floor, strategizing and making sure that we bring the fight tomorrow, and we will not allow them to continue to keep silencing our communities and taking away our abilities as duly elected officials to represent the people that we have been elected to represent in all of Texans," she said.
Collier and House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu posted avideo on Xon Tuesday chronicling how they and their colleague, state Rep. Vince Perez, slept in the chambers Monday night.
"We had two chairs that we put together. [Wu] slept in two chairs. I slept in two chairs. Our other colleague, Vince Perez, he slept in a couple of chairs," Collier said in the X video.
Wu, who did sign the waiver, said in his post that he joined Perez and Collier in support of "#goodtrouble," referencing the late Democratic Rep. John Lewis.
"We know this is a #riggedredistricting process. Democrats are not giving up!" he posted.
Collier echoed that statement.
MORE: Video Texas representative says she's locked in state house in wake of redistricting fight
"I think they need to find their resistance," she said of her supporters." Finding your voice and your resistance -- that will make a change in America."
Plesa said Collier had gotten support and calls from people around the country -- including former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris called Collier Tuesday and gave her words of encouragement, according to a representative for the former vice president.
"Know that we’re in the rooms with you no matter what. And you have our support," Harris told Collier.
House Speaker Dustin Burrows responded to Collier's action in a statement Tuesday, saying, "Rep. Collier's choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules."
"I am choosing to spend my time focused on moving the important legislation on the call to overhaul camp safety, provide property tax reform and eliminate the STAAR test -- the results Texans care about," he added.
A spokesperson for the Texas House Democratic Caucus told ABC News that Collier is effectively stuck in the Capitol until Wednesday at the earliest if she doesn't sign the form, because that is the earliest the House could do a rules change.
Collier told ABC News on Monday that she was taking a stand for herself and her constituents.
"Look, I'm not a criminal. I've exercised my right, and I am tired of the government controlling our movement, and so this is nothing more than the government exercising its control over people who exercise their constitutional rights to resist," she said.
Collier said she had no issue with the DPS officers themselves since they were ordered by the state Republican leadership to escort the selected Democrats; however, she was angry that the directive was made in the first place.
"I'm tired of being pushed around and told what to do when I disagree with the actions of our government," she said.
"You don't have to do this. You don't have to dig in deeper into the harm that you're doing. You are going to get what you want," Collier said of the Republican leadership. "This is just petty and unnecessary, and I don't think that it is fair. It's demeaning to me as a person and to my community, and I just won't take it."
