Before Texas House Democratic legislators return to Austin after a 12-day exile in Illinois to thwart their state’s Republicans from approving gerrymandered Congressional districts, several accepted the invitation of a Skokie elected official to visit a north suburban mosque Friday afternoon.

Republicans hold a 219-212 majority in the House, with four vacancies. New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census is conducted. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among states that rely on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows is warning that any absent lawmakers found this weekend will be arrested and brought back to Austin for the start of the seco

Democrats' absence has halted work in the Texas House, which must also approve the new boundaries, for more than a week.

House Speaker Dustin Burrows has given quorum-breaking Texas Democrats an ultimatum: come back to Texas or the special session ends—and with it, efforts to ban THC and handle flood response die.