Katie Hobbs’ first budget proposal, released on Friday, January 13, calls for the defunding and total elimination of Arizona’s ‘Border Strike Force,’ $40 million for illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition rates, and the repeal of a new school voucher law giving school choice to all families.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, in 2022, The Arizona Legislature passed a new law expanding the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, giving every family in the state the freedom to choose their child’s school no matter which school they attend.
Katie Hobbs did everything possible to prevent this law from taking effect late last year.
As she removes tax breaks for American families, Hobbs calls for $40 million to be used on financial aid programs for illegal immigrants.
State Representative Joseph Chapik tweeted, “Katie Hobbs isn’t serious about protecting the border and stopping human and drug trafficking,” then said her policies are “rolling out the red carpet to illegals.”
Breitbart reported,
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) is proposing a state-funded scholarship program, with $40 million in taxpayer money, to help illegal aliens attend state universities and colleges.
In her inaugural address, Hobbs vowed to expand the Arizona Promise Scholarship Program — which helps low-income students pay tuition and fees to attend universities — while creating the “Promise for DREAMers Scholarship Program” that will “cover all students, regardless of immigration status, who attend a public university.”
In effect, Hobbs’ initiative would spend $40 million to help funnel illegal aliens into limited spots at state universities and colleges. An estimated 2,000 illegal aliens would benefit from the initiative every school year.
The move comes after Arizona voters approved a Republican-led law that gives in-state tuition to illegal aliens. The vote reversed a ban on in-state tuition for illegal aliens that was imposed in 2006.
For American students in Arizona, the cost to attend college is immensely expensive. Average in-state tuition is about $4,500 but that figure goes up to more than $20,000 when books, supplies, and room and board are added on.
Graduate degree programs in Arizona are even more costly for American students. In-state costs average more than $27,300.
Meanwhile, university systems across the United States rely on a billion-dollar pipeline of foreign students, including thousands of illegal aliens, attending their schools. Such university systems are generating about $9 billion in revenue annually via tuition and fees from foreign students.
Specifically, roughly 182,000 illegal aliens of the more than 400,000 illegal aliens enrolled in United States universities and colleges are eligible or enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — making up a significant portion of university systems’ billions in revenue from their foreign student pipeline.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen assured Arizona on Twitter that this budget proposal was “DOA” at the Republican legislature. Petersen said they will approve a budget “that will not California our Arizona.”
Petersen: Definitely DOA. BTW only legislators can introduce a budget. I look forward to sending our planned budget up with my colleagues that will not Calif. our AZ. Years of good policy have made us a top destination. We aren’t departing from our success and prosperity.
“It’s fitting she released this on Friday the 13th. It’s horrific,” tweeted Kari Lake.
The Gateway Pundit will continue to provide updates on Arizona.