The House Rules Committee held a hearing Monday discussing the “Schools Not Shelters Act”, legislation designed to prevent public schools from allocating school resources and using taxpayer funds to help shelter illegal immigrants within their campus.
The act would cut funding to public elementary or secondary schools that tried to shelter illegal immigrants, citing it as a safety hazard for students as Republicans argue it is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
The discussion around schools housing illegal immigrants arose after New York City contemplated using public schools to shelter migrants.
“This misguided proposal hijacked the core education mission of public schools,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Chairman of the Rules Committee, said in the hearing. “It is the ongoing refusal of the Biden administration to secure the southern border that led to this absurd scheme.”
The border, which had over 200,000 encounters between migrants and border patrol in May 2023 alone, continues to raise security concerns, which Cole said was increased by allowing these illegal aliens into children’s schools.
