As of November 1, hospitals in Texas are required by an executive order issued by Governor Greg Abbott to ask patients if they are citizens of the United States. The order aims to assess the healthcare costs tied to undocumented immigrants in the state to then request federal reimbursements.
Abbott signed the order back in August, claiming that Texas "absorbs a large percentage of the costs associated with medical care for individuals who are not lawfully in the United States." Concerns from organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas emerged right off the bat, with fears that the new requirement may discourage undocumented residents from seeking necessary medical attention.
One of the most popular critics of the order was Tony Pastor, an adult congenital cardiologist at Texas Children's Hospital & Baylor College of Medicine who went viral a couple of weeks ago after he posted a TikTok encouraging his followers to ignore the citizenship status question.
"We were told today that people do not actually have to answer the question," Pastor said. "So my proposal to everyone who's seeing this is, just know that you do not have to answer this question." He also added: "wouldn't it be amazing if everyone who comes in doesn't answer it, and really messes with whatever data they're looking for?"
Although the video from his account has since be deleted, it's still circulating online:
🇺🇸 TEXAS DOCTOR GOES VIRAL, URGES PATIENTS TO SKIP CITIZENSHIP QUESTION
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 25, 2024
Houston physician Dr. Tony Pastor's TikTok video advising patients to skip U.S. citizenship questions at hospitals has gone viral, with 1.2 million views and over 246,000 likes.
Pastor criticized Abbott's... pic.twitter.com/Z2m2nu5op0
Governor Abbott, however, has since responded to the viral video with a veiled threat at the institution to which Pastor answers to, stating that "there will be consequences for failing to follow the law in the Order":
Hey Texas Children's Hospital & Baylor College of Medicine this doctor is putting your Medicaid & Medicare funding at risk. ou better think twice & have crystal clear records. There will be consequences for failing to follow the law in the Order.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 25, 2024
https://t.co/g11ot8genv
Besides calling on migrants to refuse to answer the citizenship question, Pastor's video also noted how Abbott's executive order negatively affected health worker's environments:
"It has made all of us physicians and providers super uncomfortable. No one has told us what people are going to do with this information. The way the country's moving, I worry that this is information that people are going to use to deport people...maybe it's just a deterrent to try to get people that are not documented to (not) come to hospitals, but even if that's the motive, it's really messed up. You should come to a hospital if you're sick. You should get health care if you're sick"
