Sen. Tom Cotton is drawing a sharp line in the sand — and it’s one many conservatives say is long overdue. On Tuesday, December 16, the Arkansas Republican unveiled two hard-hitting bills aimed squarely at ending what critics call a taxpayer-funded reward system for illegal immigration.
At the center of Cotton’s push is the aptly named Put American Students First Act, legislation that would prohibit states from granting in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens. While that may sound like common sense to most Americans, the reality is far different: as of 2025, 22 states and Washington, D.C. continue to offer discounted tuition to those in the country illegally — often at the direct expense of U.S. citizens and legal residents.
Federal law already forbids this practice. Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 clearly restricts states from extending in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens unless the same benefits are made available to all U.S. citizens, regardless of residency. Yet, according to Cotton’s bill, blue-state lawmakers have openly sidestepped that law through creative bureaucratic loopholes.
The cost isn’t small change. The bill estimates that taxpayers nationwide are footing more than $1 billion annually to subsidize higher education for noncitizens — money that could otherwise go toward American students already struggling with rising tuition, inflation, and student debt.
“Providing such subsidies creates a perverse incentive for illegal immigration,” the legislation states, “rewarding unlawful presence with benefits unavailable to citizens and legal residents of the United States… and undermines the rule of law.”
Cotton didn’t mince words when explaining his rationale. “No American should pay taxes to subsidize illegal aliens getting in-state tuition discounts,” he wrote on X. “Ending this handout will not only save money — it will reduce the incentive for illegals to come here in the first place.”
The senator doubled down on Facebook, emphasizing the local impact back home. “Arkansans shouldn’t be subsidizing tuition for noncitizens,” he wrote. “This bill ensures only American citizens get in-state tuition.”
But Cotton didn’t stop there.
His second proposal, the Asylum Reform & Loophole Closure Act, takes aim at a different but related problem: abuse of the asylum system. Under the bill, migrants who pass through one or more countries before reaching the United States would be ineligible for asylum unless they first applied for — and were denied — asylum in each country they transited.
The goal, Cotton says, is to shut down the now-common tactic of “asylum shopping,” where migrants bypass safe countries in favor of the U.S., then remain here indefinitely while their claims wind through a broken system.
“Too often asylum seekers are abusing our process by staying here indefinitely, draining taxpayers’ dollars,” Cotton told Breitbart News. “My bill will enforce stricter standards by closing loopholes that are frequently exploited.”
Taken together, the two bills reflect a broader conservative push to restore fairness, enforce existing law, and finally put American citizens — especially students and working families — first. Whether Senate Democrats will allow the legislation to move forward is another question entirely. But one thing is clear: Sen. Tom Cotton is forcing a debate Washington has avoided for far too long.
