Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a stark warning to patients ignoring a controversial executive order that requires them to disclose their immigration status during appointments.
Abbott threatened to cut funding from Texas public hospitals defying an order that mandates patients to fill in their immigration status.
The Governor's response to Republican criticism of open-border policies under Democratic President Joe Biden's administration came to light after a viral video message from a doctor on TikTok encouraged patients to ignore Abbott's executive order.
Tony Pastor, a doctor at Texas’s Children’s Hospital and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, suspected the mandate was "under the guise of trying to get data on how much money" hospitals were spending on undocumented patients.
So he encouraged patients not to respond to the US citizenship question when filling out hospital intake forms.
You can watch his video here.
“It has made all of us physicians and providers super uncomfortable,” said Pastor, adding:
“No one has told us what people are going to do with this information.”
Many on social media praised him for sharing the insight.
@drtonypastor/TikTok
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Abbott issued the executive order on August 8.
It required 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.”
In a press release, Abbott stated:
“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.”
The Texas Governor ordered that the HHSC will "immediately begin" to "collect information regarding the cost of medical care provided to illegal immigrants, beginning by November 1, 2024."
When Pastor's video demanding his state "do what's right for the health of patients in Texas" went viral, Abbott wrote the following message on X (formerly Twitter).
"Hey Texas Children’s Hospital & Baylor College of Medicine, this doctor is putting your Medicaid and Medicare funding at risk."
"You better think twice & have crystal clear records. There will be consequences for failing to follow the law in the Executive Order."
Abbott also shared a link behind a paywall to the San Antonio Express News reporting on the story.
The Governor's threat didn't go over so well on the internet.
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In response, Pastor posted a follow-up TikTok video of him beaming with an overlaying text that read:
"When the gov of Texas threatens you on twitter because he is mad you exercised freedom of speech."
The brief clip was accompanied by the song "Popular" performed by Ariana Grande from the Wicked movie soundtrack.
His popularity continued surging.
@drtonypastor/TikTok
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Pastor touched on immigration in an October 31 TikTok video, explaining how his grandfather immigrated across the border to receive medical care.
“It just drives me crazy that we’ve come this far as a nation that we forget we are a nation of immigrants,” said Pastor, adding:
“And racism and bigotry has just taken over a small population.”
You can watch a clip of the news story here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
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