Stephen Miller raised the idea of ending public education funding for undocumented children in a closed-door meeting with Texas lawmakers in Washington last week, a move that would challenge a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court precedent, according to two people who were in the meeting.
Mr. Miller, President Trump’s hard-line immigration adviser, cited gridlock in Congress as he encouraged the state lawmakers to pass conservative legislation on immigration and other issues that are crucial to Republicans, hoping such action would spur on other red states and federal lawmakers.
Republicans have been bracing for the possible loss of control in the U.S. House after the 2026 midterm elections, elevating the importance of state legislatures to the Trump administration as it looks to push its agenda on health, immigration and the economy.
“He sees conservative states like Texas and Florida can be partners with the federal government,” State Representative Tom Oliverson, the chairman of the Texas House Republican Caucus, said in an interview on Monday. “We can be a place where some of those ideas can be tried out because they’re difficult to do at the federal level.”
On immigration, Mr. Miller asked why the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature had not passed a bill last year that would have funded public education only for children who are citizens or “lawfully present in the United States.” Doing so would break with the Supreme Court precedent set in Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 decision that determined that states must pay for the elementary school education of all students regardless of immigration status.
“There’s a lot of people that believe that that ruling has some pretty faulty logic associated with it,” Mr. Oliverson said.
Ending public school funding for undocumented students in Texas would be a major reversal that could be replicated by other red states with large immigrant communities. While federal law bars collecting of immigration data about children in schools, studies in Texas have estimated the number at more than 100,000 students, out of more than 5.5 million schoolchildren in the state.
In recent years, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has expressed support for challenging the precedent set by Plyler, which originated in Texas. In a statement on Monday, a spokesman for Mr. Abbott reiterated that stance.
“American citizens should be first in line for government services and not forced to bear the costs of supporting those whose entry into this country began with breaking its laws,” the spokesman, Andrew Mahaleris, said. “The governor works daily to end unjust policies like this”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the meeting.
The discussion of the Plyler case, which was first reported by the conservative website Current Revolt, was part of a more than four-hour meeting that also included presentations by the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; and the housing secretary, Scott Turner, Mr. Oliverson said.
Mr. Oliverson said he did not see Mr. Miller’s question about school funding for undocumented students as a directive, but as part of a broader policymaking discussion.
“He challenged us, and he encouraged us, and he asked us to partner with him,” Mr. Oliverson said.
That portion of the meeting started off awkwardly, he said, with Mr. Miller asking, “do we have a RINO problem in Texas?” using an acronym for “Republican in name only” that is used by conservatives to disparage party moderates.
“There was no answer — it was just uncomfortable silence,” Mr. Oliverson said.
Republicans dominate both chambers of the Legislature and hold all statewide elected positions in Texas. But Mr. Miller’s RINO remark landed awkwardly with the Republican attendees who have dealt with years of infighting between the party leadership and a small group of conservative hard-liners.
Asked if he thought Republicans in Texas had a problem with too many moderates in their midst, Mr. Oliverson said all Republicans believe that they are far enough to the right.
“Everyone to the left of them is a RINO,” he added. “And everyone to the right of them is crazy.”
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