Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order requiring public hospitals in the state to collect data on the immigration status of their patients and report it to the state government.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s GA 46 order, issued Thursday, directs the commission to collect information on illegal immigrants who use public hospitals for hospitalization and emergency care and to report medical costs, allowing the state to track how much it spends on treating illegal immigrants, a move the governor blames on the Biden administration for the influx of illegal immigrants into the U.S. from the southern border.
“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies have forced the state of Texas to cover the medical costs of people who are in our state illegally,” Governor Abbott said in a statement. “Texas should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting the medical costs of illegal immigrants.”
“That’s why I issued an executive order requiring the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect and report medical costs for undocumented immigrants in our state,” he continued. “Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the consequences of their open borders policies and fight to make them pay for Texas for their costly and dangerous policies.”
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order requiring public hospitals in the state to collect data on the immigration status of their patients. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The new rules will come into effect on November 1st.
Hospitals will be required to report the data quarterly, with the first submission due March 1. Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, they will be required to submit an annual report to the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the state assembly on the cost of medical care provided to undocumented immigrants during the previous year.
The order also requires hospitals to inform patients that federal law states that their answers to questions about their immigration status will not affect their medical care.
The League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) criticised the decree as “political rhetoric”.
“It’s pretty vague, it’s like, ‘OK, let’s get the data.’ Now, what are you going to do with it?” said Gabriel Rosales, state director for LULAC in Texas. Fox 26.
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The order states that hospitals must inform patients that federal law requires that their answers to questions about their immigration status will not affect their medical care. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
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LULAC stressed that the executive order could mean some immigrants are unable to access the medical care they need.
“It just creates unnecessary fear,” Rosales said. “We need to create a path to citizenship.”
This comes as politicians in Texas and elsewhere are calling on the Biden administration to do more to address the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Illegal immigrants across the country contribute $26.2 billion to this country,” Sergio Lira, president of Greater Houston LULAC, told Fox 26. “They contribute $2.6 billion in state and local taxes.”
Lilla also said the federal government “subsidizes and reimburses many of the costs of health care locally and across states.”
