In a letter 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 the border law.” immigration.” Quote data of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, based in Washington, D.C., the Republican requested reimbursement of nearly $475 million for “the financial impact borne by Oklahoma taxpayers for the education of illegal immigrant children.

“Under your watch, education costs due to illegal immigration have increased astronomically,” Walters wrote in the letter, focusing on how President Joe Biden tapped Harris in 2021 to address the problem. root causes of the border crisis. Alongside the economy, immigration continue has survey as one of the most important issues for voters this election.

“Your oversight and failed efforts are a direct cause of the current crises Oklahoma and other states are currently facing,” added Walters, a former Oklahoma education secretary who has been the subject of ‘scrutiny from Democrats for being a “brandonconservative. “Oklahoma taxpayers, schools, teachers and parents should not bear the burden of your failures. They deserve better.

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The letter, which arrived just a week before 2024 election between Harris and former President Donald Trump, illustrates how some state-level Republicans are seeking financial help for, they say, the Biden-Harris administration’s mishandling of the border crisis. Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) issued an order in August seeking federal reimbursement for illegal immigrants’ health costs. In April, House Republicans impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who insisted that DHS “does not take responsibility for a failed system” to handle the influx of illegal immigrants.

Walters said in his Tuesday letter that the staggering $474.9 million figure he cited is “an estimate because only your administration knows the true number of illegal immigrants crossing this country’s borders and the true costs of illegal immigration.

In March of last year, the Federation for American Immigration Reform released a report That said, the cost of the 183,000 illegal immigrants and their children cost taxpayers more than $782 million in Oklahoma.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection has encountered nearly half a million unaccompanied alien children since you and President Joe Biden took office,” Walters told Harris in the letter, which cited federal data showing that about 3,000 unaccompanied immigrant children were sent to sponsors in the country. Oklahoma between 2021 and 2023.

“Educating these children imposes a significant financial burden and presents additional obstacles that your administration appears to be ignoring,” Walters said. “For example, greater challenges now exist in the areas of English proficiency, tutoring ESL students, classroom management, transportation, and budgeting for future costs. »

It’s unclear exactly how the federal government would approve the reimbursement Walters requested, but a conservative lawyer, Jeffrey Clark, pointed to the appropriations process. Clark, a former senior Justice Department official under Trump, said one solution would be for the president to provide specific funding. request in Congress.

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“This just highlights how important it is not only that Trump wins, but that we take back both the House and the Senate,” Clark said. Washington Examiner.

The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.