Texas public hospitals now must ask patients if they are in US legally

Texas public hospitals now must ask patients if they are in US legally
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

(HOUSTON) — Public hospitals in Texas will now be required to ask patients if they are in the U.S. legally and keep a record of the funds spent on illegal migrants after an executive order went into effect Friday.

Public hospitals are required to collect information regarding the “cost of medical care provided to illegal immigrants,” the number of inpatient discharges and the number of emergency visits, then submit that data to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on a quarterly basis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in an August statement announcing the measure.

While facilities must ask patients of their legal status, patients are not required to respond.

The new policy will also be enforced at hospitals enrolled in Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and any other facilities identified by the commission.

The first submission is due on March 1, 2025, according to the governor’s office. The commission will then submit the total cost for medical care provided to illegal migrants to the governor, lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house on an annual basis beginning on Jan. 1, 2026.

Patients are to be told that the collection of this information will not affect patient care, according to the executive order. Federal law mandates patients be told their answers will not affect their medical care.

The executive order also states that the federal government “may and should be obligated to reimburse the state of Texas for the costs that its open border policies have imposed on Texans.”

“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,” Abbott said in the statement, though migrant encounters at the border began rising while Donald Trump was president in the months after April 2020 through the November election. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants.”

Immigration advocacy groups condemned the action as it went into place Friday.

“Abbott’s latest executive order — which takes effect today and goes against federal law — is a calculated attempt to drive immigrants into the shadows and make our communities fearful of being targeted in the very places we should feel safe. Going after immigrants in hospitals is just the first step towards enacting Trump’s Project 2025 agenda,” said Michelle Ming, political director of United We Dream Action, an advocacy group for immigrants.

ABC News’ Armando Garcia contributed to this report.

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43 primates on the loose in South Carolina town after escaping from research lab
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Yemassee Police Department via Meta

(YEMASSEE, S.C.) — At least 43 primates were on the loose Thursday in a South Carolina town where authorities “strongly advised” residents to keep their doors and windows locked after the animals escaped from a research laboratory.

“At this point, none have been captured,” the Yemassee Police Department said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

Traps were being set around the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee, where the Rhesus Macaque monkeys escaped en masse around 9:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Yemassee police officers were searching for the furry fugitives, which can grow to up to 21 inches tall and weigh 17 pounds, using thermal imaging cameras, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” the sheriff’s office said. “If you spot any of the escaped animals, please contact 911 immediately and refrain from approaching them.”

Police said they are working with staff of Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center to find the escapees.

“We want to assure the community that there is no health risk associated with these animals,” police said.

Representatives of the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center could not be immediately contacted for comment.

According to its website, Alpha Genesis “provides the highest quality nonhuman primate products and bio-research services world-wide,” including serum, plasma, whole blood and tissue samples.

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Judge denies Jan. 6 defendant’s bid to delay case after Trump victory
Judge denies Jan. 6 defendant’s bid to delay case after Trump victory
ABC/Michael Le Brecht II

(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory is already beginning to elicit requests from his supporters charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol for delays in their cases due to the potential they could be pardoned after Trump’s inauguration.

Attorneys for Christopher Carnell, a 21-year-old defendant from North Carolina who was found guilty earlier this year of felony and misdemeanor charges over his participation in the Capitol assault, requested Wednesday morning that D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell delay a status hearing in his case scheduled for later this week, citing Trump’s past promises to pardon his supporters.

“Throughout his campaign, President-elect Trump made multiple clemency promises to the January 6 defendants, particularly to those who were nonviolent participants,” their filing said. “Mr. Carnell, who was an 18 year old nonviolent entrant into the Capitol on January 6, is expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office.”

Judge Howell denied Carnell’s request to delay his status hearing in an order on Wednesday.

The filing had stated that Carnell’s attorneys reached out to Trump’s office to get further information “regarding the timing and expected scope of clemency actions relevant to his case.” 

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,500 people across the country in the last four years over their roles in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, part of what the Justice Department has described as one of the largest criminal investigations in its history.

The D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office has continued to arrest individuals on a near-daily basis, many of whom have been charged with carrying out violent assaults on police protecting the building.

In addition to Trump’s promises to pardon many of those who participated in the attack, it’s widely expected the ongoing criminal investigation will be shuttered once Trump takes office.

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Lawyers spar over evidence ahead of Smartmatic’s election defamation case against Newsmax
Lawyers spar over evidence ahead of Smartmatic’s election defamation case against Newsmax
A Newsmax microphone is seen during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, July 17, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for the voting machine company Smartmatic and the cable channel Newsmax argued at a hearing Monday over evidence and witnesses expected to be presented when Smartmatic’s defamation case against the news channel goes to trial later this month.

Smartmatic has accused Newsmax of publishing dozens of false reports claiming that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 election. Newsmax has argued, in part, that they were reporting on newsworthy claims of fraud.

Howard Cooper, an attorney for Newsmax, argued at Monday’s hearing that the news channel should be able to introduce videos of broadcast segments that he says rebut Smartmatic’s argument that “Newsmax took this position of election fraud [and] not calling the election” for winner Joe Biden.

“One of the ways that we can rebut that theory is by showing shows that were contrary to President Trump’s position,” Cooper said of former President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed there had been massive election fraud.

The two sides also argued over the inclusion of witnesses who would testify about whether Newsmax, in the course of its reporting, reached out to Smartmatic — or instead only reached out to Dominion, another voting machine company that was falsely accused of wrongdoing.

Dominion, in a separate case last year, reached a $787 million settlement with Fox News in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit.

Newsmax officials have said under oath that the company contacted or attempted to contact Smartmatic during its coverage of the election and its aftermath.

“We’re not disputing that Dominion and Smartmatic are not the same,” said an attorney for Newsmax. “Some of these Newsmax personnel did get to contact Dominion. It is relevant to the case. It’s relevant to their state of mind.”

“I’d love for you to make that argument if I’m on the other side,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said in response. “Here is the executive producer of this show, and he doesn’t know the difference between Exxon and Chevron.”

After a lengthy argument about other types of evidence the parties would like to introduce at the trial, the judge reviewed the potential witness list and emphasized the need for clear and concise jury instructions.

At one point during the hearing, an attorney for Newsmax requested permission to depose Smartmatic’s damages expert, arguing that the expert’s “reports and charts” on the damages have changed frequently.

“I would only add they were looking for somewhere, and we don’t know yet, between $400 and $600 million in this case,” an attorney for Newsmax said, criticizing “the idea that we would go to a trial without having a full opportunity to do an up-to-date examination of their damages expert.”

An attorney for Smartmatic pushed back, saying that Newsmax attorneys have previously deposed the expert and that “none of the information has changed.”

Judge Davis said he would rule soon on each of the motions.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30 in Delaware.

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