As the nation faces a crisis at the southern border, two Texas lawmakers are pressing to move legislation to build a border wall and end in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
State Reps. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) and Jeff Cason (R-Bedford) wrote letters to House State Affairs Committee chairman Chris Paddie (R-Marshall), and Higher Education chairman Jim Murphy (R-Houston) to have their respective bills heard. The two legislators have strong concerns about illegal immigration and its effects on Texas, especially when border security is overwhelmed during the current migrant crisis.
Slaton’s bill, House Bill 2862, would instruct the Department of Public Safety to complete President Donald Trump’s planned wall along the southern border, securing it from further illegal alien incursions, and stemming “the tide of illegal crossings, human trafficking, and illegal drugs.”
Slaton says his proposal has tremendous support from the conservative grassroots, with expected witnesses being Maria Espinoza of the Remembrance Project, a group that remembers those killed by illegal aliens, and Lt. Col. Allen West, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.
Cason’s bill, House Bill 1486, would end in-state tuition for illegal aliens, which many have referred to as a magnet for migrants.
“In-state tuition pricing, subsidized by Texas taxpayers, is one of the few privileges afforded to Texas residents attending a state school in Texas. Students from the remaining forty-nine states must pay out-of-state fees – often 3x more expensive – if they wish to reap the benefits of attending one of Texas’s prestigious colleges or universities,” said Cason. “Why then, are illegal immigrants allowed to enjoy this privilege denied to millions of U.S. citizens?”
Cason continued, stating that Biden’s lax immigration policies are responsible for the migrant influx and that in-state tuition for illegal aliens is a draw for them, and his bill “will end this taxpayer subsidy for illegals once and for all.”
He also mentioned the general financial burden inflicted on Texans by in-state tuition, and overall accommodations, food, and housing for illegal aliens arriving in Texas, many bussed to major cities like Dallas.
In both letters, the lawmakers have simply asked for their bills to receive hearings, which will ultimately be the decisions of Chairmen Paddie and Murphy. In the past, similar bills have died in committee due to Democrat and establishment Republican opposition. With new leadership, it remains to be seen if the bills will face a different fate.
