Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state’s Health and Human Services Commission to begin collecting data from hospitals on the costs of treating illegal aliens.
Yesterday, we asked readers if Gov. Abbott should also require Texas schools to similarly collect information on the immigration status of students.
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Here is a sampling of the comments we received from our readers after they voted in the survey.
“We should know how many illegal aliens we are supporting in any institution in the State of Texas.” – Bruce Delater
“As a former teacher, I said “no”. Though some may be obvious, others might require that children turn against their parents.” – Glenda Piacenti
“No, the state should not be requiring anyone (outside law enforcement) to check immigration status. Illegal immigration is not going to be resolved by clamping down and asking everyone for papers, please comrade. It has to be stopped at the border and by eliminating incentives. Build the wall, and stop giving away free (taxpayer funded!) stuff.” – Chris Breaux
“I think the general populace would be shocked and appalled at what the state/federal governments are paying for illegal aliens.” – Dara Richardson
“We need to know how much these illegal aliens are costing Texas taxpayers, especially when school funding via the property tax seems to increase every year. Enough is enough!” – Charles Koenig
“I am in favor of limiting services for illegal immigrants, but not at the level where identifying them at school is helpful. Treat them like students, not like a special category.” – Jason Fry
“Absolutely, schools should report expenses incurred for enrolled illegal aliens in public schools. This directly affects taxpayers.” – Sharon Sapp
“Having concrete figures on what we are spending on illegal alien to children might open eyes which are currently tightly shut.” – Bonnie N Wallace
“If Texans’ tax dollars are supporting anyone in this country illegally, we have the right to know.” – Sharla Miles
“It is past time to rein in the costs of illegal aliens in our society. A good first step is to identify where the costs are and develop a plan to address the problems.” – Duaine Goulding
“We taxpayers deserve to know how much of our hard-earned dollars are being used to fund all aspects of the invasion.” – Cindy Armstrong
“We should absolutely know the immigration status of those attending our publicly-funded schools!” – James Douglass
“Since Texans are responsible for paying School Taxes, it is appropriate to collect the information regarding who is attending our schools. The current federal administration (Biden/Harris) has allowed millions of illegals to flood our Country and our State, so let everyone pay the cost of educating the illegals by reimbursing our State instead of the Texas taxpayer carrying the heaviest burden.” – Sara Parr
“If we’re paying for it, we have a right to know.” – Joseph Tortorice
“Taxpayers have every right to know how our hard-earned money is being spent.” – Andra Haney
“If Governor Abbot truly wants to know and track the costs of illegal aliens, he needs to get reports from all services, including schools.” – Kenneth Gardner
