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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an govt order mandating that public hospitals within the state collect knowledge on sufferers’ immigration statuses to report back to the state authorities.
Order GA 46, issued on Thursday, directs the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to gather info on unlawful immigrants who use public hospitals for inpatient and emergency care and report the healthcare prices, so the state can observe how a lot cash was spent on unlawful immigrants’ medical therapy and ship the invoice to the Biden administration, which the governor blames for the inflow of unlawful migrants getting into the U.S. via 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 mentioned in an announcement. “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
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an govt order requiring public hospitals within the state to gather knowledge on sufferers’ immigration statuses. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The new rule takes impact November 1.
The hospitals should report the info quarterly, with the primary submissions due on March 1. Beginning on January 1, 2026, annual reviews should be offered to the governor, lieutenant governor, and the state’s Speaker of the House on the earlier 12 months’s prices for medical care offered to unlawful immigrants.
The order additionally states that hospitals are required to tell sufferers that federal legislation mandates that their responses to questions on immigration standing won’t have an effect on medical care.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, is criticizing the chief 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, informed Fox 26.
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The order states that hospitals are required to tell sufferers that federal legislation mandates that their responses to questions on immigration standing won’t have an effect on medical care. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
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LULAC emphasised that the chief order may maintain some immigrants from in search of the medical care they require.
“It just creates a lot of fear that’s unnecessary,” Rosales mentioned. “They need to create a pathway to citizenship.”
This comes as politicians in Texas and elsewhere are calling on the Biden administration to do extra to handle the disaster on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Undocumented immigrants contribute $26.2 billion to this country, nationally,” Sergio Lira, the president of Greater Houston LULAC, informed Fox 26. “2.6 billion dollars to the state and local taxes.”
Lira additionally mentioned the federal authorities “subsidizes and supplements a lot of the medical costs, locally, statewide.”
