Texas hospitals accumulated more than $1 billion in healthcare costs for illegal immigrants during fiscal year 2025, the first year the state began tracking the figures.

The data, compiled by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and obtained by Texas Scorecard, shows hospitals logged 313,742 visits linked to individuals not legally present, with total costs reaching $1.05 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

Texas’ fiscal year runs from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31, but hospitals were only required to begin reporting in November. Based on the reported data, costs averaged about $105 million per month, meaning the true annual total could be significantly higher.

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To put the figures into perspective, the reported hospital costs approach about 1% of the state’s tax-funded resources.

The figures were collected under an executive order signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in August 2024 that mandated the agency track the number of “individuals not lawfully present” in the U.S. who use Texas public hospitals. Abbott’s executive order directed Texas hospitals to provide HHSC with quarterly breakdowns on patients not lawfully present in the U.S., including the number of inpatient discharges, emergency department visits and the cost of care provided to these patients.

Texas, a border state, reported some of the highest crossing numbers ever recorded under the Biden administration, putting immense pressure on its healthcare system, Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s press secretary, told Fox News Digital previously.

The largest share of expenses came from inpatient discharges for non-Medicaid and non-CHIP patients, totaling $565.4 million across 40,947 discharges, according to the report. CHIP is the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a federal-state program that provides low-cost health coverage for children in families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

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Emergency department visits for non-Medicaid and non-CHIP patients added another $205.5 million in costs, according to the report.

Patients enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP accounted for significant costs as well, including $255.3 million tied to inpatient discharges and $24.3 million in emergency department visits.

For fiscal year 2025, hospitals were initially required to submit data only for November 2024, when they reported 30,743 visits costing more than $102 million, according to the state.

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Subsequent reporting showed continued high costs. From December 2024 through February 2025, hospitals reported 149,619 visits totaling $330.8 million.

Between March and May 2025, reported costs reached $319.3 million, followed by $298.3 million from June through August 2025.

Arizona’s second-largest school district cut staff after losing enrollment due to “competition with charter schools.”

Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) Superintendent Franklin R. Narducci on Wednesday cited declines in enrollment since 2023, a year after lawmakers passed universal school choice to give parents options to choose schools outside of neighborhood public schools. 

Narducci further cited several factors driving enrollment loss, including “competition with charter schools,” escalating costs of homeownership and declining birth rates.

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CUSD’s governing board on Wednesday voted to cut around 60 positions in administration, among deans and coaching roles. 

Lana Berry, chief financial officer for the district, said enrollment dropped to over 4000 students since 2022 and is projected to continue dropping. 

After all the staff cuts, CUSD remains the second-largest district in Arizona and the second-largest employer in the East Valley.

“Arizona public school districts are in an unfortunate and critical position due to the state legislature’s historical underfunding of public education,” Chandler Education Association President Laurel Miller reportedly said in an email.

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Miller reportedly cited the nearly $3 billion in taxpayer funds allocated to Arizona’s “fraud-ridden” ESA voucher program, which, she claimed, led to “unnecessary enrollment declines — forcing districts to make dire decisions like cutting beloved staff and closing community schools.”

Arizona became the first state to offer universal school choice for all families in 2022, launching an $800 million program that gives parents $7,000 to put toward their children’s tuition. Several other states followed, indicating a trend of parents seeking alternative options to traditional public schools.

According to local outlet KPHO, a teacher spoke during the school district meeting Wednesday, saying teachers are being spread too thin.

“I feel like what they’re going to be asked to do is too much for a single person to do because they’re going to be doing essentially the work of three people in the time of one. And I’m very concerned about the sustainability of that,” the teacher said. “I also worry that some families will say, ‘I want a librarian at my school,’ and they’ll leave and go to charter schools.”

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Most states restrict parents to schools within their zip code or school district, but charter schools allow families to choose alternatives.

Charter schools compete with traditional public schools for students and per-pupil funding. 

Critics argue that money taken away from traditional public schools could be used to boost teachers’ salaries, invest in public schools and recruit more teachers.

Charter schools often face criticism from teachers unions because they compete with public schools for per-pupil funding and parents are allowed to opt out of their neighborhood public schools.

Tucson Unified School District, based in Tucson, Arizona, experienced similar losses last year. The district faced financial and enrollment struggles after universal school choice passed in the state in 2022. 

CUSD officials did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

A Texas couple has pleaded guilty to federal charges after prosecutors revealed they used social media to defraud dozens of homeowners out of nearly $5 million under the guise of custom homes and renovations. 

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Christopher and Raquelle Judge, a married couple from Fort Worth, admitted to carrying out an elaborate scheme to deceive customers through their home renovation business, Judge DFW LLC, between August 2020 and January 2023. 

The pair billed themselves as a one-stop shop for custom architecture, interior design and construction services, luring customers through social media to advertise their business while falsely claiming Christopher was an experienced architect. 

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“They came out to our house… and really pitched themselves as like this Chip and Joanna Gaines type of vibe,” Lane Simmons, one of the Judges’ clients, told WFAA.

Federal prosecutors revealed the couple would present clients with below-market bids to secure building contracts, before starting projects that were never finished and ultimately left victims with incomplete residences. 

In the town of Runaway Bay, Christopher Judge reportedly was slapped with a total of 424 citations for code enforcement violations, which ultimately led to the FBI taking up the case.

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“There were families whose kids did not get Christmas for a year or two,” Kalie Simmons, another victim of the Judges, told FOX 4. “There were families that filed bankruptcy.” 

Plea documents indicate the Judges defrauded over 40 victims throughout six Texas counties, involving at least 24 different construction projects.

Court documents also showed the pair commingled victims’ payments in their primary business account, often pulling installment payments from individuals to fund unrelated construction projects – amassing a total of around $4.8 million in losses. 

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Federal prosecutors say the pair then spent the money on mortgage payments, living expenses and even plastic surgery while evading questions from their victims regarding delays in construction and incomplete projects.

“You just need to be careful about who you give the money to,” Roper, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, told FOX 4. “If it’s too good to be true, it’s probably not true.”

“You gotta wonder what happened to the money,” Roper said.

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Last month, Christopher Judge pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faces up to 20 years behind bars in federal prison. Raquelle Judge also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which has a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. 

Fox News Digital was unable to immediately locate Christopher Judge’s attorney for comment. Raquelle Judge’s attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

The pair is scheduled to be sentenced separately later this year, according to federal prosecutors.