Governor Abbott Issues Executive Order Requiring Texas Hospitals to Collect Immigration Status Data

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order requiring public hospitals in the state to collect data on patients’ immigration status to report to the state government.

GA Executive Order 46, issued Thursday, directs the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect information on undocumented immigrants using public hospitals for inpatient and emergency care and report health care costs so the state can track how much money is spent treating undocumented immigrants and send the bill to the Biden administration, which the governor blames for the influx of illegal immigrants into the U.S. across the southern border.

“Because of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open borders policies, Texas has had to cover the costs of treating people who are in the state illegally,” Abbott said in a statement. “Texas should not have to bear the financial burden of supporting healthcare for undocumented immigrants.”

“That’s why I issued an executive order directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect and report on the health care costs of illegal immigrants in our state,” he continued. “Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the consequences of their open borders policies, and we will fight to ensure they reimburse Texas for their costly and dangerous policies.”

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The new regulations come into force on 1 November.

Hospitals must report the data quarterly, with the first applications due by March 1. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, annual reports must be filed with the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the state House of Representatives and include the cost of health care provided to undocumented immigrants in the previous year.

The order also states that hospitals must inform patients that federal law states that their answers to questions about immigration status will not affect their medical care.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, is criticizing the executive order, calling it “political rhetoric.”

“It’s pretty vague. It’s like, ‘Hey, let’s just get the data.’ So, what do you do with that data?’ Gabriel Rosales, state director of LULAC in Texas, told Fox 26.

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LULAC stressed that the executive order could prevent some immigrants from seeking necessary medical care.

“It just creates a lot of unnecessary fear,” Rosales said. “They need to create a path to citizenship.”

This comes as politicians in Texas and elsewhere are calling on the Biden administration to do more to address the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Undocumented immigrants contribute $26.2 billion to this country, nationally,” Sergio Lira, president of Greater Houston LULAC, told Fox 26. “$2.6 billion in state and local taxes.”

Lira added that the federal government “subsidizes and supplements many of the costs of health care, locally and statewide.”