Chris Russo - President, Texans for Strong Borders Joins Houston's Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, Oklahoma has had enough. You know, their attorney
general says that it's cost them four hundred and seventy
million dollars to educate tens of thousands of illegal immigrant
children in their state, So they'd like the money back.
When the federal government joining us to talk about Chris Russo,
president of Texans for Strong Borders, does the Trump administration
come in kind of make us a moot point? Though

(00:22):
at this point, you know, not really.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I think that the reality is that the costs of
educating illegal illegal aliens in our public schools is sort
of baked in where according to one study by the
Haffein's Liberty Foundation, the state of Texas alone, and this
is using numbers that predate the Biden Board and the
Biden Border Crisis, spent about six billion dollars per year

(00:51):
to educate illegal aliens.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Why have here in Texas? And this is true, I
think probably in all states, if we're going to be
honest about this. But you know, my way works for
a public school system. They are not allowed to ask
what the immigration status is of anybody who's registering to
go to school at their school. I'm assuming this is
pervasive statewide and If so, why was that rule put
into effect.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
The rule to not collect information on immigration status.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, they're not even allowed to ask what the immigration
status is of the student who is in ruling.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Well, I don't know the exact history of that rule,
but I do know that that's something that folks are
trying to change. The State of Texas is obligated by
the Supreme Court. Actually, Supreme Court President Plier versus Doe
in nineteen eighty two overturned to Texas law where the
State of Texas was trying to outlaw public funds from

(01:53):
being used for the education of legal aliens.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Okay, so the Supreme Court has already spoken out on
this many years to go, many years ago. I wonder
if this current Supreme Court would rule the same way though.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, I think that there is a strong possibility for
an overturn, and so do a lot of other folks
in the Texas legislature. Actually, there are several bills that
have been filed recently. Last session twenty twenty three, Drew Springer,
a now retired state Senator from North Texas, filed a

(02:30):
bill asking or that would have the State of Texas
as a condition for admitting its student to public schools
in Texas, the state would have to enter into a
memorandum of understanding with the federal government that the federal
government would pay for that student's tuition. And that bill
has been filed in the current session by State Rep.

(02:55):
Ben Bumgardner out of also North Texas.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Okay, So we'll see what happens with all of that.
And I wonder I have to always have to wonder too,
Chris Russ, if we took away public benefits for illegals,
if we took away pre education, the things that they're
coming here for, how much of this problem would solve itself.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, I think it would be a lot of it.
I think there's a reason that people are able to
live here when you know they're being paid less than
the prevailing wage of an American worker, and a lot
of that has to do with public subsidies and services.
And you know, that's the reason that ending those public

(03:38):
services and subsidies is a legislative priority for the Republican
Party of Texas. When they met last June, they actually
passed a set of legislative priorities and included in it
for this legislative session in the state of Texas was
to end those public subsidies and services.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Okay, we'll see if that actually happened. And Chris, thanks
for joining US. Best president for Texans for strong boarders,
Chris Russo