FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 8, 2023

EL PASO, Texas – Today, August 8, 2024, Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to collect information on undocumented immigrants who use Texas public hospitals for emergency and inpatient care. The Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) has issued the following statement, which can be attributed to Fernando Garcia, Executive Director of the BNHR:

 “Once again, Gov. Abbott is using immigrants as scapegoats for his failed policies and political frustrations, painting a one-sided picture of the realities happening at the border and in the state of Texas. Today, we remind Gov. Abbott that his cruel, inhumane, costly, and unconstitutional border enforcement operations has wasted over $11 billion of taxpayer money in harming asylum seekers, many of whom include children, women, and entire families. 

Under Gov. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, Texas’ dangerous razor wire placed along the border has been responsible for dozens of injuries, leaving people with severe lacerations in their hands, arms, and legs. National Guard soldiers have shot pepper balls leaving welts and bruises and resulting in eye, nose, and throat irritation. This same cruelty and disastrous operations have also funneled into border and interior communities in Texas via high-speed chases, which have been linked to 74 deaths and 198 injuries.

This Executive Order is nothing less than a policy of attrition that will result in undocumented immigrants fearing to seek out medical attention and a shameless attempt to make the state of Texas a hostile place for our communities. Despite undocumented immigrants paying $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in addition to raising over $4.9 billion in tax revenue in the state of Texas, they continue to be the targets of Gov. Abbott’s hate agenda,” said Fernando Garcia, Executive Director of the BNHR.

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