Tennessee Lawmaker Files Bill To Stop State Funding Of Students In U.S. Illegally
Photo Credit: State Representative Bruce Griffey / Facebook
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee state Rep. Bruce Griffey has filed a bill that would allow public schools to deny enrollment and the state to not fund education for students who are deemed to be in the country illegally.
House Bill 1648 says that a local school district or public charter school may “enroll, or refuse to enroll, a student who is unlawfully present in the United States.”
Griffey said on Facebook his bill “focuses on the costly expense of providing free, taxpayer-subsidized public education to illegals in [Tennessee] and calls for defunding it.”
The bill would allow the state to withhold funding for students who are deemed to be in the country illegally and school districts choose to enroll. The funding for those students would be the sole responsibility of the district, and the state would be held harmless against action regarding that funding.
Districts also would not be allowed to count students deemed to be in the country illegally toward any Basic Education Program state funding calculations.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), in response to the bill, said “it’s in the best interest of the communities and our state for all children, regardless of how they came here or where they are from, to have access to education. Time and again, immigrants, refugees, and our allies have stood to stop each one of Rep. Griffey’s anti-immigrant and anti-refugee bills, and this will be no different.”
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Griffey, however, highlighted the $4.8 billion spent annually by the state on public education funding.
“According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, in 2017, $383 million of [Tennessee’s] education budget went to funding education for illegals,” Griffey said in his social media post. “As illegals continue to flood across our border in record numbers under the failed policies of the Biden Administration, it is inevitable that this figure is significantly higher in 2021 than it was in 2017.
“Tennesseans should not have to be paying hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses resulting from criminal acts to which the federal government is turning a blind eye.”
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
Thank you, Rep. Griffey!
We should not be paying one cent for anybody that comes into this country illegally. We pay enough in taxes. I wish our rino Gov. Lee had a backbone like Florida’s Gov. DeSantis. Lets send all the illegal boarder crossers to the state of Delaware. I’m sure they wouldn’t like! Come on, man!
I absolutely agree.
I support Representive Griffey’s bill. Coming to east Tennessee from New Jersey, I have seen first hand how illegal immigration drains a states and towns resources at every level. Sadly, we have allowed groups of people to illegally invade our republic for the last 30 plus years! They are then distributed by the federal government, and non government organizations and the Catholic church (who gets paid) into our communities under the guise of inclusion and acceptance, and charity. They play on and use peoples sense of humanity, as well charitable christian church to play on the hearts and morales of good people. Trust me, they will demand special programs for these children, who are ultimately being used as pawns to bring down our society. I believe Tennessees education budget should be used for Tennessees children, not for programs like English is a second language, breakfast lunch and dinner, plus infant care and after school day care for the illegal children, because both of their parents are working jobs that our citizens and teenagers could have. People, as I said, I’ve seen what this does to a town, city, and state first hand. The fastest way for Tennesseans to lose their culture, their values, and their voice, is to allow an invasion of illegals to flood into our state unchecked. I left that very socialist state, and love Tennessee!
Bravo …
Thank you Rep. Griffey
I’m figuring that the ACLU or other such group will fight it on the grounds that a criminal is a criminal but you can’t pull educational funding for other criminals so you can’t pull if to those violating the laws set in place to protect the country by coming into our country illegally. So, we have to have a way to counter that point and to why this would be an exception.
It is about time !!! I love TN and want to keep it RED ! Keep fighting for us ! Thank you so much for your efforts ! Have a merry Christmas and let’s have a happy new year in 2022 please dear God !
It’s a sad fact a law maker would ever have to introduce a bill like this! Of course liberalism has no boundaries? Keep up the good work.
Maybe we need to change Rep. Bruce Griffey to
“Governor” Bruce Griffey??
Too many of our lawmakers are put on the carpet by the RINOS who try and shame them when they are doing the right thing to help keep our state red. This needs to stop and starts from the top down. We have redistricting coming up and they always favor those legislators who they feel are safe and easy going and do not make waves. They then “salamander” the districts to allow a favorite local RINO so they can get another RINO in office at the expense of people like Bruce Griffey! We need to support people like him regardless of which district we live in. We need to call each committee member when that bill hits their committee and tell them if they don’t vote for the bill we will not vote for them next election.