The GOP governor of Texas just made a grave threat against undocumented college students

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Thursday that he would slash state funding for any of the state’s public universities if the schools declare themselves sanctuary campuses in an effort to shield undocumented students from deportation or arrest.

Abbott made the announcement on Twitter just as college students from around the state were circulating petitions urging university administrators to declare sanctuary status, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Although no Texas schools have declared sanctuary status yet, the movement for sanctuary campuses is modeled on that of sanctuary cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, where law enforcement are not obliged to enforce federal immigration laws within city limits.

The movement is new enough that Texas administrators told the newspaper that they’re still studying the legality of such a policy move, which started as a response to Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration rhetoric winning at the polls.

Abbott is also infamously anti-immigration, and has made clear that he doesn’t want sanctuary cities in the state.