Oklahoma Schools Chief Bills Kamala Harris $474M for Education Costs, Citing Illegal Immigration; Harris Asked by Top State Official to Reimburse Illegal Immigrant Costs in Oklahoma

Oklahoma schools chief bills Kamala Harris $474M for education costs, citing illegal immigration:

Oklahoma’s top elected education official sent a “demand letter” to Vice President Kamala Harris that essentially served as an invoice for what the illegal immigration crisis under her tenure overseeing the border has cost Sooner State schools.

“As the statewide elected Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Oklahoma and the Executive Officer of the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), it is my duty to ensure that the resources allocated to our public schools are counted for and used in the most effective manner possible for the benefit of Oklahoma students’ education,” Ryan Walters wrote to Harris.

In August, Walters tasked the department to work with school districts to calculate the financial impact borne by taxpayers on illegal immigrant minors.

That analysis resulted in an estimate of $474.9 million, which he demanded of Harris in the letter.

“This demand amount is, by necessity, an estimate because only your administration knows the true number of illegal immigrants crossing this nation’s borders and the actual costs of illegal immigration,” he said, calling for Harris to conduct a potentially more accurate accounting of the costs incurred by Oklahoma schools.

“Under your supervision, the costs in education due to illegal immigration have risen astronomically. Your failed oversight and efforts are a direct cause of the current crises Oklahoma and other states now face. Oklahoma taxpayers, schools, teachers, and parents should not bear the burden of your failings. They deserve better,” Walters said.

In a Tuesday interview, Walters said the border crisis is “crippling” Oklahoma schools, and that paying for these minors’ education is the “largest unfunded mandate in the country.” —>READ MORE HERE

Harris asked by top state official to reimburse illegal immigrant costs in Oklahoma

Vice President Kamala Harris is being pressed by a top state official in Oklahoma to back a reimbursement for the cost to taxpayers of illegal immigration and its impact on schools, according to a letter.

In a letter on Tuesday to Harris and the White House, Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters criticized the Biden-Harris administration for its “abject failure to secure the border and enforce immigration law.” Citing data from the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Republican requested a reimbursement of almost $475 million for “the financial impact borne by Oklahoma taxpayers for education of illegal immigrant children.”

“Under your supervision, the costs in education due to illegal immigration have risen astronomically,” Walters wrote in the letter, zeroing in on how President Joe Biden tapped Harris in 2021 to address the root causes of the border crisis. Next to the economy, immigration continues to poll as one of the most important issues to voters this election.

“Your failed oversight and efforts are a direct cause of the current crises Oklahoma and other states now face,” added Walters, a former Education Secretary in Oklahoma who has faced scrutiny from Democrats for being a “firebrand” conservative. “Oklahoma taxpayers, schools, teachers, and parents should not bear the burden of your failings. They deserve better.”

The letter, which comes just one week before the 2024 election between Harris and former President Donald Trump, illustrates how some Republicans on the state level are seeking monetary relief for, in their telling, the Biden-Harris administration’s mishandling of the border crisis. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) issued an order in August aiming to seek federal reimbursement for illegal immigrant healthcare costs. In April, House Republicans impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who insisted the DHS does not “bear responsibility for a broken system” to handle the influx of illegal immigrants. —>READ MORE HERE

Follow link below to a related story:

The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration On United States Taxpayers 2023

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