Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state would gladly hire any Border Patrol agents on horseback who are fired by the Biden administration after a photo of one agent trying to stop a Haitian migrant sparked outrage. President Joe Biden last week slammed as ‘outrageous’ the image of a Border Patrol agent on horseback reaching for a migrant who tried to cross into the United States illegally. The dramatic photo shows what appears to be a whip belonging to the agent. The whip makes contact with the migrant, creating the impression that the agent was using it to subdue the undocumented Haitian national. But the photographer who took the photo and the agent both said that there was no whipping. The object in the photo was not a whip but a long rein used to control the horse. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state would gladly hire any Border Patrol agents on horseback who are fired by the Biden administration after a photo of one agent trying to stop a Haitian migrant sparked outrage President Joe Biden last week slammed as ‘outrageous’ the image of a Border Patrol agent on horseback reaching for a migrant who tried to cross into the United States illegally. The dramatic photo shows what appears to be a whip belonging to the agent. But the photographer who took the photo and the agent both said that there was no whipping President Biden (seen above speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday) slammed the agents' behavior, but many have accused the president of a rush to judgment Abbott took aim at Biden on Sunday, criticizing the president for a rush to judgment. ‘What the president said going after the Border Patrol who were risking their lives, working so hard to try to secure the border...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,’ the Texas governor told Fox News Sunday. ‘If they are at risk of losing their job [from] a president who is abandoning his duty to secure the border, you have a job in the state of Texas.’ The Biden administration has been widely criticized by immigration hardliners for the recent influx of undocumented Haitian migrants. Paul Ratje, the New Mexico-based photographer who took the image said the riders were merely swinging their reins, not trying to harm the migrants The photos drew international criticism for the Border Patrol after they were distributed worldwide by AFP The White House says horseback officers will no longer be used to round up migrants near the border in Del Rio, Texas Biden said of the picture and video: ‘It was horrible to see, to see people treated like they did, with horses nearly running them over. People being strapped' Alejandro Mayorkas finally admitted on Sunday that 12,000 Haitian migrants have been released into the US, claiming that number could go up as 5,000 other cases are still being processed and confusingly says not stopping illegal immigration is a 'proud tradition.' 'Approximately, I think it's about 10,000 or so – 12,000 thousand,' Mayorkas told Fox News Sunday when asked how many have already been released into the country. 'It could be even higher,' he added. 'The number that are returned could be even higher. What we do is we follow the law as Congress has passed it.' The new numbers suggest that there were actually 17,000 mostly Haitian migrants part of the Del Rio, Texas encampment rather than the previous figures that said the number didn't top 15,000. It comes as even more Haitian migrants make their way to the U.S., with images emerging Saturday of a caravan traveling to the Panama border from Acandi, Colombia. Mayorkas continued to downplay the massive southern border crisis on Sunday, saying these migrations are 'nothing new' and telling Fox he wouldn't classify the crossing as a 'flood' of people. 'Eleven million people in this country without lawful presence is a compelling reason why there is unanimity about the fact that our immigration system is broken and legislative reform is needed,' Mayorkas said. He added when asked about the surge: 'I wouldn't call it a flood.' Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas finally admitted on Sunday that 12,000 Haitian migrants have been released into the U.S., claiming that number could increase as 5,000 other cases are still being processed Previously, partial information was released by DHS this week about the status of the thousands of mostly Haitian migrants who crossed into Del Rio, Texas over the last few weeks. Those figures, however, only accounted for only 10,000 migrants – meaning at least another 5,000 were unaccounted for. The information DHS did release on Thursday showed that 1,401 migrants were sent back to Haiti on 12 different flights, 3,206 remain in custody, and 5,000 are still camped out beneath the Del Rio International Bridge. 'Why didn't you stop them from coming into the country?' Fox host Chris Wallace asked the DHS chief on Sunday. 'We did,' Mayorkas insisted. 'We encountered them as they gathered – they assembled in that one location in Del Rio, Texas, and we applied the laws.' 'My question is why did you allow them in the country in the first place?' Wallace clarified. 'Why didn't you build – forgive me, a wall or a fence to stop them from walking – this flood of people coming across the dam, it looks like a highway that allows them to cross the Rio Grande.' Mayorkas responded: 'It is the policy of this administration – we do not agree with the building of the wall. The law provides that individuals can make a claim for humanitarian relief.' 'That is actually one of our proudest traditions,' he added. Abbott, who appeared on Fox News Sunday after Mayorkas' segment, slammed the DHS boss as well as the president. 'Secretary Mayorkas and, if I can be candid, even President Biden, they are in dereliction of duty,' Abbott told Fox News Sunday. 'The Biden administration has abandoned any pretense of securing the sovereignty of either Texas or the United States by having these open border policies,' the governor said. 'The people in south Texas, they are angry about the Biden administration for ignoring, for abandoning them. 'The Biden administration cares far more for the people who are not in this country than he does for the people, American citizens who live in this country.' All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility