In yet another rebuke of the Biden-Harris Administration’s allegedly quite lax border policies, Texas Governor Greg Abbot has issued an executive order in which he directed the state’s Health and Human Services Commission to record the costs to the state of illegal immigrant medical care so that the state can demand reimbursement for it from the national government.
Announcing the executive order in a press release on his office’s website, Gov. Abbott’s office said, “Governor Greg Abbott today issued an Executive Order directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to collect information on illegal immigrants who use Texas public hospitals for inpatient and emergency care and to report incurred healthcare costs due to the Biden-Harris Administration’s reckless open border policies.”
Continuing, Gov. Abbott’s office noted that the report will be annual and cover all costs of illegal immigrant medical care to demand reimbursement for it from the national government. He said, “HHSC will also be required to report annually to the Governor and Texas Legislature all inpatient and emergency care costs for illegal immigrants so the State of Texas can seek reimbursement from the federal government.”
Speaking about the executive order, Gov. Abbott said, “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. Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants.”
He continued, “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. 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.”
Under the executive order, the HHSC will, “Direct hospitals and additional identified providers to collect information regarding the cost of medical care provided to illegal immigrants, beginning by November 1, 2024.” It will also, “Direct covered hospitals to report such data to HHSC quarterly, with initial submissions due March 1, 2025.”
Further, the HHSC will “Direct those hospitals to inform the patient that federal law mandates that any response to such questions will not affect patient care” and “Report annually, beginning on January 1, 2026, to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House on the preceding year’s costs for medical care provided to illegal immigrants.”
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Speaking about the migration situation in February, Gov. Abbott said, “I must emphasize this. There is an obligation, there are laws in the United States that require the president to deny the illegal entry of any illegal immigrants. And then if they do come to the United States, he has a legal obligation to detain those illegal immigrants. Joe Biden is failing at both of those duties and that’s exactly what gives Texas the authority to make sure that we can step up and secure our own border and protect our own state through self defense.”
Watch Gov. Abbott sound off on the Biden Administration’s border policy here:
Featured image credit: By World Travel & Tourism Council – Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54703342