Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday issued an executive order requiring hospitals report the annual costs of care for illegal migrants so the state can seek reimbursement from the federal government.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is directed to collect information on illegal migrants who use state hospitals for emergency and inpatient care, according to the executive order. These costs will be reported every year to Abbott’s office and the Texas Legislature in order for state officials to demand reimbursement from the Biden-Harris administration.
The Republican governor places direct blame on the White House’s “reckless open border policies” for the high medical care costs.
“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 stated in a press release. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants.”
“That is why today 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,” the governor 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.”
Hospitals are to begin collecting information on illegal migrant medical care costs by November 1 and to report their data quarterly, according to the order. Beginning in 2026, hospitals would then begin reporting their data annually to the governor, lieutenant governor and Texas House speaker.
However, patients will also be informed that, under federal law, any response to legal status will not affect patient care, according to the order.
Abbott’s order follows an ongoing border crisis that has had more than 7 million foreign nationals illegally cross into the U.S. since the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration, according to the latest Customs and Border Protection data. Major cities across the country – such as Denver, Chicago and New York City – have annually shelled out millions caring for the many asylum seekers descending into their jurisdictions.
Abbott, who leads a state that shares the largest portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, has positioned himself as a leading figure in the GOP fight against the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies with the launch of his Operation Lodestar initiative and other lawsuits.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cost of providing emergency and other medical care for illegal migrants, given many states don’t ask for legal status, some estimates put the price tag into the billions. A 2023 study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) put total federal medical expenditures at more than $23 billion and estimated state medical expenditures to be more than $18 billion.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Featured image credit. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)
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