Abbott promises to hire Border Patrol agents punished by Biden administration

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Sunday pledged his support for Border Patrol agents who are punished by the Biden administration, saying he will hire any who are at risk of losing their jobs.

When asked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace to respond to images of officers on horseback blocking Haitian migrants from entering the U.S. while appearing to use their reins for intimidation, Abbott laid blame on the Biden administration, saying that “they wouldn’t have been in that situation had the Biden administration enforced the immigration laws.”

President Biden has condemned the images of mounted officers aggressively blocking Haitian migrants from crossing the border and has promised that there will be consequences.

“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 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,” said Abbott on Sunday.

During the interview, Wallace also asked Abbott to respond to accusations that he is exceeding his authority in handling the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, noting that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has threatened to sue Abbott.

“Because the Biden administration is refusing to do its duty to enforce the laws of the United States, they have left Texas in no position other than for us to step up and do what we have to do,” Abbott said. “I’m going to step up and do whatever I have to do to make sure that I protect the people of Del Rio as well as all these other communities in the state of Texas that the Biden administration is ignoring.”

Updated at 10:30 a.m.