The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a group that has not only criticized the rights of undocumented immigrants but has also attacked U.S. policies on legal immigration, has found a new villain in its war on immigration: immigrant children who are learning English.
In a fundraising email today with the subject line “The dirty secret government doesn’t want you to know...," FAIR’s Dan Stein promotes an upcoming report from his group on “what every parent and taxpayer must know about immigration and the public education crisis,” which apparently will blame troubles in the public education system on the need to help immigrant children who are not yet proficient in English.
“You've probably read about the looming threats of attack from terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda,” Stein writes. “But government doesn't want you to find out about the ongoing assault right here at home on our public education system by skyrocketing immigration costs.”
Stein specifically objects to “unfunded mandates that require states to educate illegal aliens and their children” but also says that the money spent educating all immigrant children who are working to learn English “is diminishing the quality of education for all students”:
You've probably read about the looming threats of attack from terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda. But government doesn't want you to find out about the ongoing assault right here at home on our public education system by skyrocketing immigration costs.
Currently, American tax payers pay $59.8 billion to educate Limited English Proficiency (LEP) public school students and an additional $43.8 billion to educate illegal aliens and their children. If we continue on this path, by 2018 we will need 82,408 more LEP teachers at a projected cost of an additional $6.3 billion.
Add it all up, and that's over $66.1 billion paid by American taxpayers to educate limited English speaking students by 2018! It's hurting the educational opportunities for all Americans.
…
With shrinking school budgets, the added intake of refugees, illegal aliens, and new immigrants is only creating more of a drain on limited funds and is diminishing the quality of education for all students.
FAIR is fighting to change this by speaking out against unfunded mandates that require states to educate illegal aliens and their children. At a time when immigration is at the forefront, we can't miss out on this opportunity to tell the untold story of immigration's part in the education crisis. With your contribution, you'll be making an impact on the future of America's education system and its youth.
(Emphases are ours.)
