Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order requiring hospitals to collect data on the healthcare costs of undocumented migrants treated in the state.
The order will mean that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) must “assess costs to the Texas public hospital system imposed by the federal government’s open-border policies.”
Healthcare officials who treat undocumented migrants will be forced to collect and send information on those patients’ citizenship status to the state, according to the executive order that Abbott signed on Thursday.
HHSC will direct healthcare providers to collect the costs associated with care for undocumented migrants beginning on November 1.
HHSC must provide regular reports to state authorities, according to the order. The state government will require quarterly reports on the costs, with annual reports directed to the governor’s office.
“Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants,” Abbott said in a statement.
“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.
The Biden-Harris administration does not employ open border policies. However, Republican lawmakers have commonly deployed this attack line during the presidential election.
Abbott cited the influx of migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border and said they impose burdens on the local healthcare services and increase “the costs of medical care for all Texans.”
Health officials fear the order may deter migrants from seeking urgent medical attention.
“It’s going to discourage people from seeking medical care that otherwise are going to need it. And whether you’re legal or not, if you’re having an emergency or a medical problem, you’re a human being, and you need to be seen,” Hidalgo County Health Director Dr. Ivan Melendez told Border Report.
The order signed by the Texas governor is the latest string of stand-offs between Abbott and the Biden-Harris administration over matters concerning immigration policy and border security.
In 2021, Abbott announced Operation Lone Star to stop migrants from entering the U.S. unlawfully. It has led to the apprehension of 516,300 illegal immigrants and more than 45,300 arrests since its launch.
Operation Lone Star has been challenged in the courts, including a back-and-forth over a floating blockade Texas officials placed in the Rio Grande.
A Texas court ruled last month that a floating barrier in the Rio Grande meant to discourage migrants from crossing into the state can remain.
The ruling by the 5th Circuit appeals court on July 30 dealt a blow to the Biden administration’s attempt to remove the floating barrier placed there by the state of Texas.
And human rights groups say that immigrants trying to cross the United States-Mexico border in Texas are being shoved into razor wire and fired at with pepper balls by those working under Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
Abbott has also hit out at Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she “couldn’t trouble herself” to visit the border.
Harris has been under increasing pressure over what Republicans view as a lack of leadership surrounding immigration policy.
Immigration is one of the key issues in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election as former President Donald Trump faces off against Harris.
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