I said this during a discussion of “sanctuary universities” over the weekend. I said it back in November when the University of California was preparing their legal defense for the proposal. If colleges pursue this lawless course of action there is absolutely something the federal government can do about it. And now, before we’ve even seated the new government, some Republicans in the House are getting ready to do it.

If you defy our immigration laws there’s a big pile of government funding which may not be coming your way. (Daily Caller)

Republican Texas Congressmen Louie Gohmert and Brian Babin told The Daily Caller Monday they would support legislation to cut off federal funds from universities and colleges which have a stated policy of protecting illegal immigrants. In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election, campuses around the country have announced they will not cooperate with the federal government to deport illegal immigrants. This includes refusing to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainers, not allowing ICE officers on campus without a warrant, and not releasing the immigration status of students without a court order. “By declaring themselves Sanctuary Campuses, Universities are putting their other students, and the public at large, in jeopardy and at risk and they know it. If these universities feel so strongly about the issue, they should publicly state they are willing to assume the risk and liability of their actions, and the actions of anyone harbored under this policy, in case someone is harmed,” Rep. Gohmert said in a statement provided to TheDC.

We don’t have an actual bill yet, but there’s time to put one together by the end of January and it probably won’t need to be very lengthy. There are examples to draw from at the state level already, assuming any guidelines are needed. In Texas, Governor Abbot already put forward instructions for the removal of state funding for lawless campuses. Georgia is in the process of doing something similar.

While the President Elect hasn’t officially weighed in on the sanctuary university question, he’s been more than clear about his willingness to slash funding for entire cities which adopt such policies. I find it difficult to imagine that he won’t be onboard with a plan to do the same for colleges who harbor criminals. And that brings to mind another question in terms of the mechanisms for denying funding. While I’d personally rather see any such policy go through Congress, the current administration has demonstrated that you can do a lot with the power of the phone and the pen. If the current administration can withhold funding for schools which don’t allow boys in the girls showers, surely they can do the same for demonstrated felons.

One final question to ponder is how much money we’re talking about and what to do with it. We’ve heard repeated claims from Democrats that Mexico will never pay for the wall. Fair enough. The University of California school system currently receives around $8B per year in federal funding. Wesleyan University (also mentioned in the DC article as a sanctuary campus) pockets around $20M. As more and more of these refuges for special snowflakes weigh in on the issue we could be talking about more than 100 schools. That’s got to add up to a significant chunk of change.

How much was that wall supposed to cost again?