WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2023) White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that reports of Texas ordering its border security agents to push migrants into the Rio Grande river are despicable if true.
"We saw those reports. If they are true, it is abhorrent, it is despicable, it is dangerous," Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing, when asked about the reports.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered border security agents to push migrants into the Rio Grande and deny them access to water, even in high heat, The Houston Chronicle reported on Monday, citing an email from a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper.
The trooper alleges that Texas National Guard soldiers pushed back a four-year-old girl who passed out from heat exhaustion while trying to pass a razor-wire barrier in Eagle Pass. A pregnant woman was also found caught in the wire, and a teenager broke his leg trying to get around it, according to the report.
The trooper sent the email to a superior, requesting that Texas halt its use of barrels wrapped in razor-wire and revoke the order to withhold water, the report said.
The White House has not yet confirmed the reports, Jean-Pierre said. However, such orders would "not be surprising" coming from Abbott, Jean-Pierre added.
