Oklahoma’s top elected education official sent Vice President Kamala Harris a “demand letter” that essentially served as an invoice for the extent to which the illegal immigration crisis has plagued the Sooner State during her tenure overseeing the border. How much damage has been caused to the 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 accounted for and utilized in the best interests of Oklahoma. The most effective way possible to benefit students’ education,” Ryan Walters wrote to Harris.
In August, Walters tasked the department with working 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 they demanded from Harris in the letter.
“This demand amount is, by necessity, an estimate because only your administration knows the true number of illegal immigrants crossing the borders of this country and the true cost of illegal immigration,” he said, calling on Harris to potentially do a more accurate accounting. Did. Costs borne by Oklahoma schools.
“Under your watch, the cost of education has increased drastically due to illegal immigration. Your failed oversight and efforts are a direct cause of the current crisis facing Oklahoma and other states. Oklahoma taxpayers, schools, teachers and parents should not bear the burden of your failures. They deserve better,” Walters said.
In an interview Tuesday, Walters said the border crisis is “crippling” Oklahoma’s schools, and that paying for the education of these minors is “the largest unfunded mandate in the country.”
He said Oklahoma has been the first state to calculate the education cost of the border crisis and actually bill the Biden-Harris administration for fiscal inequity.
In August, Texas Gov. greg abbott An executive order was issued directing hospitals to collect similar cost information for patients “not lawfully present in the United States.”
“Since he has been deployed to the border, he has failed our country,” Walters said. “Open borders have impacted every aspect of society, but it has destroyed our schools, destroyed our families. And now is absolutely the time to hold them accountable for this.”
Walters said he invites other states to follow suit and calculate the true cost of illegal immigration to show the true impact of the crisis on the country.
Harris’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked if he expected a response or dispatch, Walters said the administration has long been “unresponsive to the needs of all Americans.”
“I know he has magically pretended like he cares about this in the last 60 days of his campaign. But the reality is, as you’ve seen story after story, data point after data point, and they’ve ignored them,” he said.
(tags to translate) politics
