No. In Texas, immigration status is not relevant in, and not a prerequisite to, recovering for a personal injury, and that includes, all damages You do not need a Social Security number, a driver’s license, or a work permit to bring a claim or to file a lawsuit The two-year deadline under CPRC section 16.003 applies to everyone.
Status Is Not an Element of a Texas Injury Claim
To win a Texas injury case you prove that someone owed you a duty, breached it, and caused your damages. Immigration status is not on that list. In Grocers Supply v. Cabello (Tex. App.—Dallas 2012), the court confirmed that lawful status is not a prerequisite to tort recovery.
Insurers sometimes suggest that the federal decision in Hoffman Plastic wiped out those damages. It did not. Hoffman Plastic concerned a federal labor-law remedy, and under Cabello it does not preempt Texas tort recovery which means that federal law does not take precedent over state law.
The same is true across claim types. A car crash claim, a premises claim, a dog bite claim, a workplace injury claim, and any other negligence claim, are all evaluated on liability and damages, not on immigration status.
Can the Other Side Bring Up My Status in Front of a Jury?
In TXI Transportation v. Hughes (Tex. 2010), the Texas Supreme Court treated immigration status as presumptively collateral to the merits and highly prejudicial. Evidence of status is routinely excluded under Texas Rule of Evidence 403, because its potential to inflame a jury outweighs what it proves.
Be precise about what that means. This is a trial judge’s discretionary balancing, not an absolute statutory bar. Rule 403 rulings depend on the record in front of the judge, and a party can sometimes make status relevant to a disputed issue or open the door through its own testimony. Anyone who tells you your status can never be mentioned under any circumstances is overstating the law.
The practical answer is planning. Your lawyer raises the issue before trial, usually through a motion in limine, objects to discovery aimed at immigration status, and keeps the damages presentation focused on the evidence.
You Do Not Need an SSN or a Driver’s License
An identification number is NOT an element of an injury claim. You can be treated, sign a contingency fee agreement, file suit, give a deposition, settle, and be paid without a Social Security number or a Texas driver’s license.
Texas court filings are public, but Rule 21c of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure classifies driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, passport numbers, and tax identification numbers as sensitive data that must be redacted from documents filed with the court.
Where a tax identification number is genuinely needed, such as settlement paperwork or reporting on a taxable portion of a recovery, an ITIN works. ITINs are issued regardless of immigration status and exist for federal tax purposes. We do not tell clients that an ITIN keeps information away from any other agency, because that is not something we can verify.
Under IRC section 104(a)(2), compensatory damages for physical injury are excluded from gross income. Punitive damages and interest are taxable. That is a tax question worth asking about before you sign, whatever your status.
Unlicensed, Uninsured, or Paid in Cash
Driving without a license or without insurance does not bar your recovery. Texas has no ‘no pay, no play’ law. Driving uninsured is a fine-only offense, under Transportation Code section 601.191, and it is handled separately from your injury claim.
What can reduce your recovery is fault for the collision itself. Texas uses a 51% bar: you recover if you are 50% or less responsible, and your award drops by your percentage (CPRC sections 33.001 and 33.012). Not having a license is not the same as causing the wreck, and the two should not be conflated.
If you are paid in cash, lost income is still provable. Pay envelopes, deposit records, work schedules, texts from a supervisor, testimony from an employer or crew leader, and evidence of the going rate for your trade all go into that proof. Tell your lawyer the truth about how you were paid at the first meeting so that the claim is built correctly from the start.
Workplace Injuries and Workers’ Compensation
Texas workers’ compensation covers both citizens and non-citizens, including undocumented workers. If your employer carries workers’ comp, your status does not remove you from the system.
Texas is also the only state where a private employer may opt out of workers’ compensation entirely (Labor Code section 406.002). If your employer is a non-subscriber, you can sue it for negligence, and under Labor Code section 406.033 it loses the defenses of contributory negligence, assumption of the risk, and the fellow-servant rule. You still have to prove negligence, and a waiver you signed before you were hurt is void.
Separately, you may have a claim against a third party, such as an equipment manufacturer, a chemical supplier, a contractor, or a property owner. If workers’ comp paid benefits, the workers’ comp carrier holds a lien on that third-party recovery, reduced by attorney’s fees (Labor Code sections 417.001 and 417.003).
The Emergency Room, the Record, and Where to Get Help
Executive Order GA-46, effective November 1, 2024, requires hospitals that participate in Medicaid or CHIP to ask about immigration status. Patients are not required to answer, hospitals must tell you that your answer will not affect your care, and EMTALA still guarantees emergency treatment.
This matters to your claim for a blunt reason: skipping the emergency room destroys the medical record the case may depend on. Insurers value injuries by treatment. A gap between the crash and the first doctor visit is the single most common reason a real injury is paid as a minor one.
Only a licensed Texas attorney can represent you in an injury claim. A consultation with Jim Ross Law Group is free, in person or by phone at 817-275-4100, and there is no fee unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will filing a lawsuit put my information in front of immigration authorities?
A lawsuit is a public court record, but Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21c requires sensitive identification numbers to be redacted from filings. Your lawyer can also object to discovery aimed at status and, in some cases, ask the court for a protective order. No lawyer can promise what any government agency does with public records, so raise the concern at your first meeting.
Can the insurance company ask about my immigration status in a deposition?
They can ask questions, and your attorney can object and, in the right circumstances, instruct you not to answer. Whether the topic ever reaches a jury is a separate decision made by the judge under Rule 403, where status is presumptively collateral and highly prejudicial. That balancing is discretionary, so the issue is usually raised before trial rather than left to chance.
Can a “notario publico” handle my injury claim in Texas?
No. A Texas notary is not a lawyer. Under Government Code section 406.017, a notary may not use the title notario publico without the statutory disclaimer and may not accept fees to represent anyone in a legal proceeding. Violating that is a Class A misdemeanor and a felony on repeat offenses. Only a licensed Texas attorney can handle your claim.
Someone came to my house offering to sign me up after my accident. Is that legal?
Texas treats illegal solicitation of legal work as the crime of barratry, and the law gives you rights. Under Government Code section 82.0651, a client solicited illegally may void the contract and recover attorneys’ fees plus a $10,000 penalty. A person who was solicited and did not sign may recover $50,000 per violator. Keep the person’s name, card, and any messages.
Can I recover lost wages if I was paid in cash?
Yes. The law requires proof of your earnings, not a particular form of proof. Deposit records, pay envelopes, schedules, supervisor testimony, and evidence of standard pay for your work can all establish it. Texas also allows recovery for loss of earning capacity, which looks at what your injury took away from you, not only at what you happened to be earning that month.
Does workers' compensation cover me if I do not have work authorization?
Texas workers’ compensation covers both citizens and non-citizens, including undocumented workers. The larger question is whether your employer carries workers’ comp at all, because Texas is the only state where a private employer may opt out of carrying workers’ comp. If it does not carry workers’ comp insurance, you may sue it directly for negligence under Labor Code section 406.033.
Do I need a Social Security number to receive a settlement check?
No. A Social Security number is not required to settle or be paid. An ITIN, issued for federal tax purposes regardless of immigration status, works where a tax identification number is needed. Compensatory damages for physical injury are excluded from gross income under IRC section 104(a)(2), while punitive damages and interest are taxable.
Will the hospital report me if I go to the emergency room?
Under Executive Order GA-46, hospitals that take Medicaid or CHIP must ask about immigration status. You are not required to answer, and the hospital must tell you that your answer will not affect your care. EMTALA still requires emergency treatment. Avoiding the emergency room after a serious injury costs you the medical record your claim may depend on.
This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Jim Ross Law Group, P.C., 2201 E Lamar Blvd #110, Arlington, TX 76006.