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.
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“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.”
He said Oklahoma has been the first state to both calculate the education costs of the border crisis and to actually bill the Biden-Harris administration for the fiscal disparity.
In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order directing hospitals to collect cost information in a similar fashion, for patients “not lawfully present in the United States.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally in Houston, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
“Since she’s been the border czar, she’s failed our country,” Walters said. “Open borders has had an impact on every aspect of society, but it has overrun our schools, decimated our families. And it is absolutely time to hold them accountable for that.”
Walters said he invites other states to follow suit and calculate the real costs of illegal immigration, to show the true effects of the crisis on the country.
Harris’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
When asked if he expects a response or a remittance, Walters said the administration has long been “unresponsive to the needs of all Americans.”
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A Customs and Border Protection patch is displayed on the arm of an officer on Sept. 28, 2024, in San Diego, California. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
“I know that they’ve magically pretended like they’ve cared about it here in the last 60 days of their campaign. But the reality is, as you’ve seen story after story, data point after data point, and they’ve ignored them,” he said.