One thing that “progressives” are bad at is thinking through the long-run consequences of their actions. They love to display their limitless compassion and virtue on impulse and consider the effects later, if at all. Think, for instance, about their demands for a $15-per-hour minimum wage. Never mind that it wipes out employment opportunities for really needy people.

The latest feel-good campaign among leftists is for “sanctuary campuses.” Hundreds of petitions are circulating right now, calling upon college and university leaders to declare their schools to be sanctuaries for “undocumented” people. So far, 29 schools have taken that plunge, and it seems likely that many more will do so. What college president or chancellor would risk losing Liberal In Good Standing status by saying no?

In this Pope Center piece, Stephanie Keaveney writes about the sanctuary-campus phenomenon.

Naturally, UNC–Chapel Hill is at the fore. The petition at UNC calls upon the university to “declare its support for and protection of undocumented people and their families on our campus and in your community.” It also, Keaveney writes, “demands that university officials refuse to assist with immigration authorities in their deportations or raids, invest resources to train students to be more ‘inclusive’ of undocumented students, and publicly declare the campus to be a refuge for students facing deportation.”

University of California president Janet Napolitano is charging ahead. She has implemented, Keaveney notes, “a new policy that prohibits campus police from cooperating with local, state, and federal immigration officials.”

What could possibly go wrong?

One rather big thing that could go wrong is that most colleges and universities are heavily dependent on federal funds. The Left may discover to its horror that the same regulatory power that allows the Obama Education Department to strong-arm schools into adopting sexual-assault policies that have no actual basis in law can be used to take away federal money when they start ignoring actual laws that require cooperation with immigration officials. However morally virtuous you think your position, flouting the law will have adverse consequences.

University counsel might also caution top officials about their legal exposure if someone they’ve chosen to protect commits a crime on campus. A repeat of the Kate Steinle murder could be ruinous for many schools.

Think before you act.