Immigration-related concerns likely led to a decrease in vaccinations in Dallas County in 2025, the county’s top health official said.
Immigration-related concerns likely led to a decrease in vaccinations in Dallas County in 2025, the county’s top health official said., hospital visits by undocumented immigrants in Texas declined by 32% from November 2024, when officials reported roughly 30,000 visits, to last August, when 20,345 visits were reported.
Visits by individuals legally present to be in the U.S. rose by 14% in that time period, while visits from undocumented patients accounted for 2% of all reported visits statewide,Still, the data obtained from hospitals may not tell the full story. Those numbers only reflect visits from self-identified undocumented immigrants, and patients may choose not to answer the question altogether.. That same executive order requires public hospitals to report healthcare costs for undocumented immigrants, which Abbott insists are being paid for by the taxpayer. Texas public hospitals reported over $1 billion in costs associated with treating undocumented immigrants in 2025,“Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants,” Abbott wrote in a release announcing the order. “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.” released by HHS aren’t straightforward, as they don’t include recouped costs and fail to account for costs associated with treating uninsured citizens, who are morein the U.S. And while the data could just reflect a decline in patients choosing to answer questions on their immigration status, health policy groups believe undocumented immigrants are avoiding care“Substantial shares of immigrants are saying they have avoided seeking medical care due to immigration related fears,” Drishti Pillai, the director of immigrant health policy at KFF, a health policy organization that reports on the intersection of immigration and healthcare, toldenforcement operations in “protected areas,” including churches, schools, colleges, daycares, and medical centers like hospitals and clinics. Since the reversal, ICE agentsclose to 50% of likely undocumented immigrants surveyed said they had avoided medical care because of immigration-related concerns. That survey also found that one in seven adult immigrants, including those with legal status, had avoided medical care over immigration fears. There have been reported instances ofthat fears about immigration likely led to a decline in childhood vaccinations administered by the county health department before the school year began in August. In 2024, Dallas County administered 16,412 vaccines, while in August 2025, clinics administered 9,578 vaccines. In an interview, Huang said that while declines in vaccination rates have been seen across the board, the largest drops have been reported among Hispanic populations. He also said he believes that fears over immigration enforcement are a “big contributing factor” to the decline. “Our community outreach team, when they’re out in the field, is hearing more of those concerns specifically,” Huang said. DHHS is not required to ask about immigration status when providing care to underinsured and uninsured families at community clinics. The information the department does collect is basic, but Huang said people are still asking, “Why are you collecting this information?”Huang said that any segment of the population delaying vaccination or care should concern everyone. “When you get those high levels and the sort of herd immunity levels of vaccine coverage, it protects everyone in the community,” Huang said. “When you don’t get that, that’s when you’re vulnerable. These infectious diseases can impact anyone. And so when the community is less protected, it affects everyone.”If you value independent journalism, please consider making a contribution to support our continued coverage of essential stories and to investigate issues that matter.
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