The measure aims to calculate state health spending on illegal aliens
The governor of the state of Texas (United States), Republican Greg Abbott, has signed an order on Thursday that requires hospitals to collect data on the immigration status of their patients in order to calculate state health spending on illegal aliens.
The measure will come into effect on November 1 and aims to periodically collect data on “patients who are not legally in the United States,” as well as on the number of hospital discharges, emergency room visits and the costs of care, according to the newspaper ‘The Hill’.
“Due to the open border policies of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Texas has had to foot the bill for the medical costs of individuals who are in the state illegally,” Abbott said.
After that, he explained that these expenses increase the costs of health care for Texans and that the authorities should not have to “assume the burden”, shifting the responsibility to the federal government.
“That is why today I have issued an executive order demanding that the health costs of illegal immigrants in our state be covered. Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the consequences of its open border policies, and we will fight to ensure that they return to Texas the money for their costly and dangerous policies,” Abbott added.
The governor of Texas has been at odds with the White House for months over the immigration issue, and at the beginning of 2023 he installed a chain of buoys in the Rio Grande to try to prevent the entry of migrants from Mexican territory, a decision that was finally stopped by a court.
