New York Democrats have killed a bill proposing tuition assistance for children of fallen veterans, green-lighting college funding for illegal migrants instead.
US President Donald Trump has called out New York State Democrats for quashing a bill that would have added hundreds of thousands of dollars in college tuition aid to members of Gold Star families – the relatives of deceased or severely disabled Iraq War veterans.
Instead, Empire State Dems have allocated $27 million in tuition assistance for the children of undocumented immigrants, which, as Trump claimed in one of his ballistic tweets, is the reason for New York’s exodus.
On Friday, Trump also slammed Democrats for their unwillingness to “change our very dangerous immigration laws” and said that he was considering placing illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities.
The GOP bill was rejected in the Democratic-controlled Committee on Higher Education on Tuesday in a 15-11 vote, with chair Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan) claiming that the state couldn’t spare several hundred thousand more after passing a $175 billion budget.
The existing law provides $2.7 million in scholarships to 145 children and dependents of soldiers killed or badly injured in combat areas. The amended bill would exclude “combat areas” and include any official duty.
The New York Post cited bill sponsor Assemblyman Stephen Hawley (R-Batavia) as saying that “at least five” Democrats came up to him after the vote, saying they “need to get this taken care of” by signing their names as co-sponsors and getting the bill passed.
“This bill I’ve had for a number of years, and if this is a priority for the Democratic majority, shame on them. I would think college tuition for the kids of those who make the ultimate sacrifice would be a no brainer”, he said.
In March, Trump declared a national emergency and requested $32.5 billion in funds for border security for the 2020 fiscal year, including $8.6 billion for building a border wall. Trump has consistently stressed that the wall is indispensable to prevent all sorts of criminals from crossing into the United States.
The Congress, in turn, has opposed the decision, even trying to override US President Donald Trump’s veto of legislation aimed at terminating his declaration of a national emergency, which passed with bipartisan support in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
POTUS has also threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican cars imported to the United States if Mexico does not stem the flow of US-bound illegal migrants crossing through its territory, and warned he may close the southern border altogether.