A new Mississippi report says the state has spent more than $100 million fighting illegal immigration, with the governor blaming the federal government for a “deliberate failure” to secure the border.
Report A Mississippi state auditor's investigation found there are at least 22,000 undocumented immigrants in the state. Analysts estimate it costs taxpayers more than $100 million a year, with more than $25 million just to educate them in public schools.
Meanwhile, taxpayers were found to be spending $77 million to provide health care to illegal immigrants and their children, and another $1.7 million to incarcerate illegal immigrant criminals.
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Migrants walk along a highway through Suchiate, Chiapas, southern Mexico, on their way north to the U.S. border, Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
“Mississippi's illegal immigration problem is out of control and is costing taxpayers millions of dollars,” said State Auditor Shad White. “If this problem isn't fixed, our public schools, hospitals and prisons will continue to lose huge amounts of money that could be spent on our citizens.”
The numbers are only estimates, and concrete data isn't always available. The report notes that the Mississippi Department of Education is prohibited from collecting citizenship information. Instead, it uses data from the University of Mississippi to estimate that there are about 2,500 undocumented immigrants attending public schools. It also factors in additional spending on English language learners and low-income student grants.
Regarding health care, the report found that about 50 percent of undocumented immigrants have no health insurance, and 38 percent use emergency medical services for their primary care. It also cited the costs of giving birth to an undocumented immigrant and the costs of getting health insurance for their children who are U.S. citizens.
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The report said the actual spending figure is likely to be higher due to the limited amount of reliable data.
Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves delivers a State of the State address to the Mississippi Legislature at the State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi, on February 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
The report comes at a time when border security and the ongoing crisis at the southern border are top of mind for voters and a major issue ahead of the November election.
“States are being forced to pay the price for the Biden-Harris Administration's willful failure to secure our borders, and Mississippi is no exception,” Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“Their dangerous immigration policies are putting Americans at risk and creating enormous financial burdens for states across the country. It's time to stop. It's clear that Kamala Harris is incapable of fixing the border problems this Administration has created for itself,” he said. “She has been a huge flop as border chief and has actually made the situation worse. Securing our border starts with getting Donald Trump elected in November.”
Republicans blame the three-year-old border crisis on Biden administration policies, arguing the administration has rolled back Trump-era policies that encouraged a surge of migrants into the country.
The Biden administration has said more funding and reforms are needed, including in a recent bipartisan Senate bill, which Republicans have not provided. They also point to a recent sharp decline in visits and releases of refugees since Biden signed an executive order restricting asylum in June. Vice President Kamala Harris told Democratic National Convention attendees last week that former President Trump “ordered our allies in Congress to tear up this agreement.”
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“As president, I will restore the bipartisan border security bill that Trump killed and sign it into law. I am confident we can uphold our proud tradition as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system,” she said. “We can create a path to citizenship and secure our border.”
