Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order requiring public hospitals in the state to collect data on patients’ immigration status and report it to the state government.
GA Order 46, issued Thursday, directs the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect information on illegal immigrants who use state hospitals for inpatient and emergency care and to report health care costs, so the state can track how much money has been spent on medical treatment for illegal immigrants and send the bill to the Biden administration, which the governor accuses of being responsible for the influx of illegal migrants entering the United States through the southern border.
“Because of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies, Texas has been left to foot the bill for the medical costs of those in the state illegally,” Abbott said in a statement. “Texas should not have to bear the burden of funding the medical care of illegal immigrants.”
“That’s why I issued an executive order requiring the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect and report health care costs for illegal immigrants in our state,” he continued. “Texas will hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable for the consequences of its open borders policy, and we will fight to ensure it reimburses Texas for its 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 patients’ immigration status. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The new rule comes into effect on November 1.
Hospitals must report the data quarterly, with the first submissions due March 1. Beginning January 1, 2026, annual reports must be provided to the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the state House of Representatives on the previous year’s costs for medical care provided to illegal immigrants.
The order also requires hospitals to inform patients that federal law states that their answers to questions about immigration status will not affect medical care.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, criticized the executive order, calling it “political rhetoric.”
“It’s pretty vague. It’s like, ‘Hey, let’s just get the data.’ Well, what do you do with that data?” Gabriel Rosales, LULAC’s Texas state director, told Fox 26.
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The order states that hospitals are required to inform patients that federal law states that their answers to questions about immigration status will not affect medical care. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file)
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LULAC stressed that the executive order could prevent some immigrants from seeking the medical care they need.
“It creates unnecessary fear,” Rosales said. “They need to create a path to citizenship.”
The move comes as politicians in Texas and elsewhere call 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, president of Greater Houston LULAC, told Fox 26. “$2.6 billion in state and local taxes.”
Lira also said the federal government “subsidizes and supplements a lot of medical costs, at the local level and at the state level.”
