Undocumented immigrants do not qualify for many public benefits. And Texas offers less than most states.
One Yang of American Gateways, a provider of immigration law services in Texas, said undocumented immigrants in the state qualify for only a small number of benefits, including emergency medical services, child food assistance and public education.
The governor’s office said the cost of each additional student enrolled in Texas public schools was about $ 6,100 a year, not including the cost of providing bilingual and special education services, which added more than $ 2,000 in additional costs.
The last time the state controller investigated the problem was in 2006. The report found that while undocumented children’s education cost about $ 1 billion at the time, unauthorized migration in the state has had an overall positive effect on the Texas economy. Mr Hünekens of the Immigration Reform Group said government programs for students with limited English proficiency cost more than $ 7 billion in 2016.
But banning undocumented students could disrupt the system for all, said Zef Capo, president of Texas AFT, a teachers’ union that said schools could lose government funding to a student that accompanies those students, as well as extra money sent by federal government. “Not all undocumented children are all in the same school or school district,” he said. “It will hurt everyone.”
Attitudes toward immigration have changed in Texas, where former Republican governors such as George W. Bush and Rick Perry have adopted relatively moderate tones. Mr. Perry, during his term, signed a law allowing undocumented students access to public education and financial aid at Texas public universities.
But taking a firm stand on immigration was a politically convenient place for Mr Abbott. He used the issue to defeat Republican primary candidates and returned to it in his race for the general election against Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat and former congressman from El Paso.
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