Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tells RNC that Trump will ‘restore order’ at border

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), a border state leader who has unleashed an unprecedented effort to reinforce security at the Mexico boundary amid the Biden-era border crisis , said he sees "hope on the horizon" with the potential election of former President Donald Trump .

"I see hope on the horizon because on Nov. 5, Joe Biden will be fired and Donald Trump will once again become the president of the United States of America," Abbott said during remarks at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday evening in Milwaukee.

"It is time to restore order at the border," Abbott said. "It is time to rid our streets of crime and chaos. It is time to secure our nation by returning Donald Trump as president of the United States of America."

At another point Wednesday evening, which highlighted border security concerns, the crowd broke out in a chant of "Build that wall," which was a cornerstone chant from Trump's 2016 run for president.

Since early 2021, when illegal immigrant arrests began to dramatically tick up, Abbott deployed more than 10,000 state and local police as well as state National Guard soldiers, across the state to assist with security at the state's 1,250 miles of shared border with Mexico.

The state operation has cost several billion dollars. State authorities have arrested more than 512,000 illegal immigrants and seized more than half a billion lethal doses of fentanyl from drug smugglers — all of which made it past federal authorities.

Jim Chilton, a fifth-generation cattle rancher whose property runs along five miles of the Arizona border, recounted to convention attendees that outdoor cameras set up on his property in April recorded more than 5,000 illegal immigrants trekking through his land since President Joe Biden.

"These are not asylum-seekers," Chilton said. "It looks like and feels like an invasion because it is."

Darid Lara owns a water purification business in southwestern Arizona.

"Imagine strangers terrorizing your homes, your yards, and local schools," Lara told the crowd of GOP attendees. "Imagine the fire department using off-road vehicles to bring your neighbors to the hospital because the ambulances are taken by so-called asylum-seekers."

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The former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan endorsed Trump from the stage and gave a stern warning of what a second term would mean for illegal immigrants.

"You’d better start packing now. You’re damn right. 'Cause you’re going home," Homan said.