The state of Mississippi is spending over $100 million on illegal immigration, according to a new report by the state -- with the governor blaming it on an "intention failure" by the feds to secure the border.
The report by the Mississippi state auditor found that there are at least 22,000 illegal immigrants in the state. Analysts estimate that it costs taxpayers over $100 million annually, with more than $25 million to educate illegal immigrants in public school alone.
Meanwhile, taxpayers spend $77 million to provide healthcare for illegal immigrants and their children, and another $1.7 million to incarcerate illegal immigrant criminals, it found.
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"Mississippi’s illegal immigration problem is spiraling out of control and is costing taxpayers millions," said State Auditor Shad White. "Our public schools, hospitals, and prisons will continue to lose massive sums of money that we could have spent on our own citizens if this problem is not solved."
The number is only an estimate because specific data is not always available. The report noted that the Mississippi Dept. of Education is barred from collecting citizenship information. Instead, it used data from the University of Mississippi to project that there are approximately 2,500 illegal immigrants attending public schools. It also accounted for extra spending on English Language Learners and Low Income Student Supplements.
For healthcare, the report found that approximately 50% of illegal immigrants have no healthcare coverage and 38% use emergency medical services for primary care. It also notes the costs of births to illegal immigrants and the cost of Medicaid for children born to illegal immigrants -- who are citizens of the United States.
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The report says that due to the limited amount of reliable data, the actual spending could be much higher.
The report comes at a time when border security and the ongoing crisis at the southern border is a top priority for voters and a major issue ahead of the November election.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said that states "are being forced to step up and pay for the Biden-Harris administration’s intentional failure to secure our border, and Mississippi is no exception."
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"Their dangerous immigration policies are endangering Americans and putting enormous financial strain on states all across our country — and it’s long past time to put a stop to it. It’s clear Kamala Harris isn’t up to fixing the administration’s self-inflicted problems at the border," he said. "She’s been a disaster as border czar and is actually making the situation worse. Securing our border starts with electing Donald Trump in November."
Republicans have blamed the three-year border crisis on the Biden administration’s policies, claiming that the administration rolled back Trump-era policies and encouraged migrants to flood into the country as a result.
The Biden administration has said it needs more funding and reform, including a recent bipartisan Senate bill, but that Republicans have failed to provide it. It has also pointed to a recent sharp drop in encounters and releases since President Biden signed an executive order limiting asylum in June. Vice President Kamala Harris told attendees at the Democratic National Convention last week that former President Trump has "ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal."
"As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law. I know, I know, we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system," she said. "We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border."
