6 April 9 - 15, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents 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 state- wide, The Tribune reported. Still, the data obtained from hospitals may not tell the full story. Those numbers only reflect visits from self-identified un- documented immigrants, and patients may choose not to answer the question alto- gether. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an execu- tive order in 2024 requiring hospitals in the state to ask patients about their immigration status. That same executive order requires public hospitals to report healthcare costs for undocumented immigrants, which Ab- bott insists are being paid for by the tax- payer. Texas public hospitals reported over $1 billion in costs associated with treating undocumented immigrants in 2025, accord- ing to data from the Texas Health and Hu- man Services Commission. “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 Com- mission to collect and report healthcare costs for illegal immigrants in our state. Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Adminis- tration 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.” Barriers to Care E xperts have warned that the numbers released by HHS aren’t straightfor- ward, as they don’t include recouped costs and fail to account for costs associated with treating uninsured citizens, who are more prevalent in Texas than anywhere else in the U.S. And while the data could just re- flect a decline in patients choosing to an- swer questions on their immigration status, health policy groups believe undocumented immigrants are avoiding care even more than in the past. “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 organi- zation that reports on the intersection of im- migration and healthcare, told The Tribune. Trump reversed a DHS policy in early 2025 to allow enforcement operations in “protected areas,” including churches, schools, colleges, daycares, and medical cen- ters like hospitals and clinics. Since the re- versal, ICE agents have been spotted at hospitals around the country, with a KFF re- port stating that officers have entered exam rooms without a warrant. In a New York Times/KFF survey from 2025, close to 50% of likely undocumented immigrants surveyed said they had avoided medical care because of immigration-re- lated 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 of DACA recipients and other legal immigrants being detained in Texas. Fewer Vaccinations P hilip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, told the Tribune that fears about im- migration 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 ad- ministered 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 immigra- tion enforcement are a “big contributing fac- tor” 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 immi- gration status when providing care to un- derinsured and uninsured families at community clinics. The information the de- partment does collect is basic, but Huang said people are still asking, “Why are you collecting this information?” The reluctance to engage with county health workers comes at a time when nearly eliminated diseases such as measles are re- surging in North Texas communities. In Jan- uary, it was reported that vaccination rates in Dallas classrooms had fallen below the “herd immunity” threshold for measles protection. Huang said that any segment of the pop- ulation delaying vaccination or care should concern everyone. “When you get those high levels and the sort of herd immunity levels of vaccine cov- erage, it protects everyone in the commu- nity,” Huang said. “When you don’t get that, that’s when you’re vulnerable. These infec- tious diseases can impact anyone. And so when the community is less protected, it af- fects everyone.” ▼ CAMPUS PROTEST SUSPENDED SPEECH UT DALLAS SUSPENDS PRO- PALESTINE STUDENT GROUP FOLLOWING GRADUATION PROTEST. BY EMMA RUBY A University of Texas at Dallas stu- dent group dedicated to raising sup- port and awareness for Palestine has been suspended for a year, organizers said last week. The students claim that the punitive ac- tion, which prevents the university’s Stu- dents for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter from assembling on campus or accessing university resources until February 2027, follows a pattern of “systemic repression” against students who voice outspoken sup- port for the Palestinian people. The univer- sity did not respond to the Observer’s request for comment. Leaders of the SJP chapter say univer- sity officials notified them on Sept. 2 that the club was under investigation for violat- ing the university’s code of conduct. The is- sue at the heart of the complaint is a demonstration that took place in May 2025, in which former university President Rich- ard Benson’s graduation commencement speech was interrupted by students bran- dishing flags and yelling phrases in support of Palestine. A spokesperson for the student group told the Observer on Monday that the demonstra- tion, while in line with the message promoted by the SJP chapter, was not officially planned by the group. The SJP chapter did repost vid- eos of the protest to Instagram after it took place, something the university has pointed to as evidence that the organization endorsed the action. The representative added that the interruption of Benson’s speech lasted only 28 seconds, which the organization argues is not sufficient to qualify as the type of disrup- tion that can be punished under the universi- ty’s standards. In February of this year, student leaders attempted to appeal the disciplinary deci- sion, but the effort was unsuccessful. Inves- tigation documents show that UTD officials and SJP members have disagreed over whether the individuals involved in the graduation protest were members of SJP. “This suspension comes after years … of attempts to sanction SJP and its members, changing university policy to silence us, and surveilling our work to find ways to shut us down,” said Mariam Lafi, a UTD student and SJP member, during a press conference Mon- day. “Our humanity requires us to stand with immigrants and with the people of Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Cuba and all oppressed peo- ple around the world, no matter the price. And today, the small price paid is the suspen- sion of our organization status with UTD.” The SJP organization has been in conflict with university leaders since May 2024, when law enforcement officers broke up a campus encampment erected in support of Palestine after 12 hours. Twenty-one stu- dents, professors and community members were arrested, including the president of SJP at that time. Since that event, students involved with the encampment — some of whom also iden- tified themselves as members of SJP — have faced bans from campus and withheld de- Adobe Stock Fear of ICE is keeping immigrants from seeking medical care and vaccinations. Christine Odwesso UT Dallas students stand in solidarity with Palestine and other college campuses. Unfair Park from p4
