EXCLUSIVE: Texas Governor Greg Abbott Puts Blue Cities On Notice Over Sanctuary Policies

It’s a real Texas showdown as the Lone Star State battles blue cities attempting to impose sanctuary policies.

Governor Greg Abbott (R.) has threatened to pull $110 million dollars in public safety grants from Houston over a recent policy that prevents local police from waiting 30 minutes for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrive at a scene to detain individuals with immigration warrants. The state has threatened to withhold $90 million in funds from Dallas and $2.5 million from Austin for taking a similar approach to policing.

In a recent interview with The Daily Wire, Abbott fumed at the “radical leftists and progressives who are running our large blue cities in the state of Texas,” adding, “You would think this would be something that would happen in some other state, especially because of the laws that we have in place in the state of Texas that don’t exist in some of these blue states.”

“It was in the city of Houston where there were two illegal immigrants who were apprehended and let go and then went on to murder Jocelyn Nungaray,” Abbott said. “And so these people are not comprehending the reality. And that is there are deadly consequences by their failure to ensure that we detain illegal immigrants and make sure they clear through ICE and pose no danger to our community. The city of Houston is making their community more dangerous.”

“But I’m not going to tolerate, and Texans will not tolerate, policies Houston’s trying to adopt that let dangerous illegal immigrants roam the street without ICE having the opportunity to try to detain them and put them in the deportation process,” he added.

NEW: Gov. @GregAbbott_TX has threatened to pull $110 million dollars in public safety grants from Houston over its recent policy barring local police from waiting 30 minutes for ICE to arrive at a scene to detain individuals with immigration warrants. Tomorrow, the Houston City… pic.twitter.com/sjmXP8gF0g

— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) April 21, 2026

If things don’t change in Houston, the city could be losing a lot more than just the $110 million in state funds, Abbott warned. The state comptroller could also withhold $40 million a month that the city receives as a sales tax rebate.

It may be Houston’s “largest source of revenue,” Abbott said.

“It’s like you getting a paycheck … on a monthly basis to be able to pay your bills. The city of Houston is going to not get a paycheck of about $40 million a month where they’re not going to be able to pay their bills,” Abbott said.

“So this truly is a crisis, a financial crisis, the city of Houston is going through. And it’s not a crisis made by the state of Texas. It’s a crisis made by their leftist agenda insisting they’ll pay whatever the consequences in order for them to have sanctuary cities,” he said.

It all started on April 8, when the Houston City Council passed an ordinance barring local police officers from holding illegal immigrant detainees for extended periods of time for ICE.

Abbott has threatened to pull $110 million in public safety grants to the city, arguing the latest ordinance has resulted in a breach of contract over the funding.

The state requires that recipients of the public safety grants agree to work with ICE. And if they don’t, “they forfeit the money” and must “repay to the state every single dollar they have received,” Abbott said.

“As President Trump sometimes says, they have no cards,” Abbott said. “We have all the cards in this, and they are going to lose, and they’re not going to be able to balance their budget.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also sued the city of Houston, arguing that “no Texas city will be a safe harbor for illegals.”

Houston Mayor John Whitmire said last week that the city has found itself in a “crisis situation,” arguing that “the potential loss of state funding poses real challenges” for local authorities and for security at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Whitmire has called a city council meeting on Wednesday to discuss possibly repealing the ordinance.

“We have significant work ahead, and I’m considering all options,” Whitmire said.