Gov. Abbott issues executive order requiring Texas hospitals to gather data on immigration statuses
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order mandating that public hospitals in the state gather data on patients' immigration statuses to report to the state government.
Order GA 46, issued on Thursday, directs the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect information on illegal immigrants who use public hospitals for inpatient and emergency care and report the healthcare costs, so the state can track how much money was spent on illegal immigrants' medical treatment and send the bill to the Biden administration, which the governor blames for the influx of illegal migrants entering the U.S. through the Southern Border.
"Due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' open border policies, Texas has had to foot the bill for medical costs for individuals illegally in the state," Abbott said in a statement. "Texas should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants."
"That is why I issued an Executive Order requiring the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect and report healthcare costs for illegal immigrants in our state," he continued. "Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the consequences of their open border policies, and we will fight to ensure that they pay back Texas for their costly and dangerous policies."
GOP STATES SUE TO STOP BIDEN ADMIN EXTENDING OBAMACARE TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
The new rule takes effect November 1.
The hospitals must report the data quarterly, with the first submissions due on March 1. Beginning on January 1, 2026, annual reports must be provided to the governor, lieutenant governor, and the state's Speaker of the House on the previous year's costs for medical care provided to illegal immigrants.
The order also states that hospitals are required to inform patients that federal law mandates that their responses to questions about immigration status will not affect medical care.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, is criticizing the executive order as "political rhetoric."
"It’s pretty vague. It’s like 'Hey, let’s just get the data.' Well, what are you doing to do with the data?," Gabriel Rosales, the state director for LULAC in Texas, told Fox 26.
LULAC emphasized that the executive order could keep some immigrants from seeking the medical care they require.
"It just creates a lot of fear that's unnecessary," Rosales said. "They need to create a pathway to citizenship."
This comes as politicians in Texas and elsewhere are calling on the Biden administration to do more to address the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Undocumented immigrants contribute $26.2 billion to this country, nationally," Sergio Lira, the president of Greater Houston LULAC, told Fox 26. "2.6 billion dollars to the state and local taxes."
Lira also said the federal government "subsidizes and supplements a lot of the medical costs, locally, statewide."