Texas Gov. Abbott to State Universities: I 'Will Not Tolerate' Sanctuary Campuses | Sojourners

Texas Gov. Abbott to State Universities: I 'Will Not Tolerate' Sanctuary Campuses

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Texas will “not tolerate” sanctuary campuses or cities, said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Twitter Thursday.

His tweet came in response to petitions circling this week around Texas campuses, including University of North Texas, Texas Woman’s University, and Texas State University. The petitions call for schools to enact similar protections as sanctuary cities, which pledge to not cooperate with enforcement of federal immigration law.

Abbott has previously vowed to ban sanctuary cities from Texas, reports Dallas News:

He told Fox News on Tuesday that he had already "used [his] powers as governor of Texas to withhold funds to cities or counties that are declaring themselves to be sanctuary cities," but an investigation by The Dallas Morning News refutes that claim.

The legality of sanctuary campuses is still up for debate. Some private universities, like Wesleyan University in Connecticut, have declared themselves sanctuary campuses, but the situation for public universities is different since they are on state-owned land.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects all student information except their enrollment status, whether they live in campus housing and their major and classification.

Currently there are an estimated 300 sanctuary states, counties, and cities across the U.S., but no model for sanctuary campuses. Calls for sanctuary campuses began in the wake of Donald Trump’s campaign pledges to repeal DACA and escalate deportations.

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