It is the opinion of many legal experts that local governments are currently at no risk whatsoever in continuing to serve undocumented persons in their locally-funded programs. Federal and State Programs Are Still Serving the Undocumented. Of course, all of the programs listed above that were not defined as federal public benefits continue to serve all otherwise-eligible residents in their service areas without regard for citizenship. In addition, the state of Texas is not excluding the undocumented from state-funded programs, most notably the County Indigent Health Care program which explicitly serves undocumented persons in all of the smaller Texas counties covered under the Act. To protect the public health.
Communicable disease pays no attention to immigration status or borders.
Discrimination against the undocumented is of course forbidden in the emergency room. It would be burdensome and complex to deny access to certain primary and preventive care services while covering others for this population. The administrative burden and cost of screening for immigration status is enormous, and the potential to discriminate against legal immigrants and foreign-born U.S. citizens in the process is considerable. All working people in the community are contributing to Hospital District Tax bases through their sales and property taxes. Economists agree that property taxes are borne equally by renters and homeowners - the renters just cannot reap the federal tax benefits of local property taxes.