Images of U.S. Border Patrol agents that appear to show them charging at Haitian migrants near the Texas-Mexico border sparked outrage and drew sharp criticism from President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, numerous members of Congress and others.

What You Need To Know

  • Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed the state will hire any Border Patrol agents "at risk of losing their job by a president who is abandoning his duty to secure the border"

  • Comment came following photos that show Border Patrol agents charging at Haitian migrants on horseback 

  • President Joe Biden last week said of the Border Patrol agents, "there will be consequences"

  • The border crossing where thousands of migrants converged was partially reopened this past weekend 

On Sunday, appearing on “Fox News Sunday” with host Chris Wallace, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defended agents and said the state will hire any punished by the Biden administration and who fear their jobs are in jeopardy.

"If he takes any action against them whatsoever — I have worked side by side with those Border Patrol agents — I want them to know something. If they are at risk of losing their job by a president who is abandoning his duty to secure the border, you have a job in the state of Texas. I will hire you to help Texas secure our border,” Abbott said.

Abbott has long blamed the uptick in migrant border crossings on Biden’s policies and that includes the recent event in Del Rio in which more than 10,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, gathered near a bridge in search of asylum.

"They (Border Patrol agents) wouldn't have been in that situation had the Biden administration enforced the immigration law and secured the border in the first place," Abbott said Sunday.

President Biden last week said the Border Patrol agents who charged at migrants would face disciplinary action, stating, "I promise you those people will pay. There will be consequences. It's dangerous. It's wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world; it sends the wrong message at home. It's simply not who we are."

Meanwhile, the border crossing where Haitian migrants converged was partially reopened this past weekend.

Federal and local officials said no migrants remained at the makeshift encampment as of Friday, after some of the nearly 15,000 people were expelled from the country and many others were allowed to remain in the U.S., at least temporarily, as they try to seek asylum.

In a statement, officials said trade and travel operations would resume at the Del Rio Port of Entry for passenger traffic at 4 p.m. Saturday. It will be reopened for cargo traffic on Monday morning. CBP temporarily closed the border crossing between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, on Sept. 17 after the migrants suddenly crossed into Del Rio and made camp around the U.S. side of the border bridge.

The number of people at the Del Rio encampment peaked last Saturday as migrants driven by confusion over the Biden administration’s policies and misinformation on social media converged at the border crossing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.