Texas Gov. Abbott directs hospitals to collect immigration status of patients

Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott has signed an executive order directing hospitals to collect the immigration status of patients and report healthcare costs incurred by undocumented immigrants to the state.

The Republican governor signed the order Thursday, his latest targeting migrants in his protracted feud with President Joe Biden over policies concerning the southern border.

Starting Nov. 1, hospitals and other medical providers will be required to collect the immigration status of patients and the costs of medical care provided to undocumented immigrants. The data is then to be reported quarterly to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The initial submission is due March 1.

The order states that hospitals are to inform patients that federal law mandates that their response to questions concerning their immigration status will not affect patient care.

In a statement , Abbot said Texans should not have to pay for the healthcare of "illegal immigrants" while suggesting that the data collected will be used to force the federal government to cover the 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," he said.

"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."

The Texas Hospital Association, the main advocate for the state's hospitals and healthcare system, said Thursday that they are reviewing the order "as quickly as possible."

"Right now, hospitals don't ask about patient immigration status as a condition of treatment. Hospitals are required by law to provide life-saving treatment to anyone, regardless of ability to pay or status," the association said in a statement .

Biden has been plagued for much of his administration by GOP criticism over his handling of the southern border, with Abbott being among the most vocal critics.

The Republican governor has responded to most of Biden's border policies with lawsuits and initiated Operation Lone Star, which deployed the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Safety to the souther border. He has also been bussing tens of thousands of migrants to Democrat-led states.

However, the move by Abbott comes as Biden administration policies have seen encounters at the southern border plummet in recent months. According to U.S. Custom and Border Patrol statistics , there were 83,536 arrests between ports of entry in June, making it the lowest monthly total of the Biden administration.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, called on the governor to focus instead on families in the state, gun violence in schools and the energy grid.

"Our MAGA Republican governor just can't stop social engineering," she said in a statement on X.

"First, he wants doctors and nurses to police women's choices for reproductive care, then he wants to make criminals out of parents who support their child in seeking gender-affirming care and now he wants to make ICE officers out of doctors providing immigrants with medical care. When will it stop?"

MAGA is the acronym the far-right Make America Great Again nativist political movement, made popular by former President Donald Trump .