In a big move that could help Americans in quite a huge way, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced two bills on Tuesday, December 16 to ban states from providing in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens, something that many conservatives see as a way that illegal aliens have benefited at the expense of Americans.
One of the bills introduced by Sen. Cotton is the “Put American Students First Act.” It points to 22 different states, along with Washington, DC, and alleges that they have engaged in serious violations of Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. That bill prohibits the provision of in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens under most conditions.
That bill’s text provides, “Despite this prohibition, as of 2025, 22 States and the District of Columbia continue to provide in-State rates for tuition and fees to such aliens through policies that circumvent Federal law, subsidizing their postsecondary education at a cost to taxpayers of the United States estimated at more than $1,000,000,000 annually.”
Further, the senator alleges in the text of the bill, “Providing such subsidies creates a perverse incentive for illegal immigration, rewarding unlawful presence with benefits unavailable to citizens and legal residents of the United States who do not live within such State, and undermines the rule of law.”
The other bill, also introduced on Tuesday and called the Asylum Reform & Loophole Closure Act, moves to make sure that asylum-seeking aliens who have arrived in the United States after having transited through one or more countries would be ineligible to obtain asylum status in America unless they had applied for and been officially denied asylum in each country through which they passed.
Posting about the matter on X, the senator wrote that Americans should not be subsidizing illegal aliens, saying, “No American should pay taxes to subsidize illegal aliens getting in-state tuition discounts. Ending this handout will not only save money–it will reduce the incentive for illegals to come here in the first place.”
Similarly, in a post on Facebook about the two bills and what they are meant to achieve that was posted to the platform as he introduced both of them to the Senate on Tuesday, Sen. Cotton said, “Today I introduced the Put American Students First Act to ensure that only American citizens get in-state tuition. Arkansans shouldn’t be subsidizing tuition for noncitizens.”
"*" indicates required fields
Commenting on the first bill to Breitbart News, Sen. Cotton noted that his constituents should not have to pay taxes so that illegal aliens can displace them, saying, “Arkansas taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing noncitizens’ college tuition. My bill will put our students first by ensuring that only Americans are eligible for in-state tuition.”
And, commenting on the anti-asylum seekers bill and why it is necessary, the senator from Arkansas argued, “Too often asylum seekers are abusing our process by staying here indefinitely draining Arkansas taxpayers’ dollars. My bill will enforce stricter standards by closing loopholes that are frequently exploited.”