ATLANTA—The only rational explanation for the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policy is that Democrats think illegal immigrants will help them in the Nov. 5 election, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says.

“It just doesn’t make sense, unless you think you can turn those [illegal aliens] into voters, and it’s going to help you in your next election,” the Oklahoma governor said in remarks Friday at conservative commentator and radio talk-show host Erick Erickson’s The Gathering conference.

America can’t afford to give illegal immigrants the benefits of U.S. citizenship, Stitt, a Republican elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, told his audience at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta.

“We can’t afford to do that, to have open borders and have all these people come in,” he said.

Sitt, the founder and former CEO of Gateway Mortgage Group, said he runs Oklahoma like a business.

“Oklahoma is the most business-friendly state in the country,” he told his audience at . “When I took over, we had no money in savings. We were having billion-dollar budget deficits.”

Now, Stitt said, “we’re running an efficient government.”

“I’ve cut taxes, I’ve cut income [taxes], I’ve cut corporate {taxes], I’ve cut individual [taxes], I’ve cut the grocery tax—which was the most regressive tax that we had—because government is not the answer,” the Oklahoma governor said.

Stitt boasted about what he said is the best school choice program in the country.

“Rich people already have school choice,” Stitt said. “They can put their kids in any school they want. And so we passed a refundable tax credit [so] that every family now in Oklahoma has up to $7,500 to take their kids to any school.”