The cost to Texas taxpayers of educating illegal aliens exceeds $7 billion a year, according to a new study from the Huffines Liberty Foundation.
In the last fiscal year, nearly 2.5 million illegal aliens were encountered on the southern border by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, with the majority of those encounters taking place in Texas.
“The most important step that can be taken to reduce these costs is to secure the U.S. border with Mexico. Unfortunately, neither federal nor state politicians are seriously trying to shut down the border to illegal immigration,” the study states. “The next best thing we can do is make Texas less attractive to current and potential illegal aliens. And perhaps the best way we can do that is to eliminate the many government benefits that illegal aliens take advantage of upon their arrival in Texas.”
To that end, the foundation is taking aim at education-related handouts from the state to illegal aliens and making the following recommendations:
- Eliminate in-state tuition for illegal aliens;
- Place a moratorium on enrollment of illegal aliens in public schools until the U.S. government reimburses the costs;
- Require proof of citizenship status for students and parents of students; and
- Require Texas school districts to count and report all noncitizen students and all children of noncitizens.
Notably, legislation to eliminate taxpayer-subsidized in-state tuition for illegal aliens was not given a hearing in the Texas House and was not filed in the Senate, despite it being included in the Republican Party of Texas’ platform.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Drew Springer (R–Muenster) has asked Abbott to include legislation calling on the federal government to reimburse Texas for educating illegal aliens in public schools to a special session agenda.
“The federal government has forced Texans to spend billions of dollars each year to pay for the cost of open borders. Not only is this failure expensive in monetary terms, but it also contributes to the loss of America’s cultural identity. In addition to taking steps to secure the border without the federal government’s help, the Texas Legislature should pass laws, including those identified here, to make Texas a less attractive place for illegal aliens to come to and live in,” the study concludes.
The full study may be read here.
