Abbott Wants to Cut Funding for Texas Sanctuary Schools. Can He Do That?

This week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune.

By Rhonda FanningDecember 2, 2016 12:48 pm,

It’s time to talk about the week that was in Texas politics. Emily Ramshaw, editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune, spoke with the Standard today to talk about what’s been going on across the state.

Sanctuary cities have been a talking point for the last few weeks and recently, the idea of ‘sanctuary schools’ has emerged out of the conversation. Gov. Greg Abbott has said that funding will be withheld from Texas schools if they choose to call themselves sanctuary campuses – the question is, can he do that?

“First they’d have to figure out exactly what the definition of a ‘sanctuary campus’ is…sanctuary cities are controversial because so few cities actually accept that moniker,” Ramshaw says. “There are some campuses that are basically saying, ‘We don’t want federal authorities coming in and asking about the immigrant status of our students. But in Texas that has been very nebulous so far, it seems more like he’s drawing a line in the sand versus, [saying] this is something that would be implemented.”

What you’ll hear in this segment:

-The legislative agendas of Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

-Which Texans are still in the running for Trump’s administration

-The public nature of Trump’s vetting process so far