A New ‘Ellis Island’: U.S. Colleges and Universities Defy Immigration Enforcement

As the Trump administration battles to secure the southern border and undo Biden’s reckless dereliction of duty—which allowed 10 million illegal migrants into the country—colleges and universities are doing everything they can to make immigration enforcement a nightmare. Instead of helping address this crisis, they’re actively obstructing federal agents, blatantly disregarding the rule of law and the taxpayers who keep them afloat.

Take California, where dozens of schools in the state are refusing to provide information about the approximately 87,000 illegal students enrolled in their higher education systems. 

Melissa Villarin, a spokesperson for California’s Community Colleges, told LAist, “Our colleges will not release personally identifiable student information related to immigration status unless required by judicial order.” Similarly, California State University stated that its campus police “‘will not contact, detain, question or arrest an individual solely on the basis of suspected undocumented immigration status’ or undertake joint efforts with federal immigration enforcement authorities.”

[RELATED: Illegal Immigration U: Reckless Policies and Campus Defiance Undermine the Rule of Law]

This defiance is not limited to California—it’s a nationwide endeavor. 

In January, Libs of TikTok exposed the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) for using taxpayer dollars to help illegal students evade law enforcement. The post featured a screenshot of an email from UNLV informing staff about the university’s Legal Services Program, which includes a full-time immigration attorney offering free legal assistance to illegal students and their families.

SCOOP: University of Nevada, Las Vegas (@unlv), a public University that receives federal funding, sent out an email informing staff that they are providing free legal assistance to “immigrant students” and their families.

They’re using tax dollars to help illegals avoid law… pic.twitter.com/blI5dtvIJC

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 23, 2025

This is not the first time universities have stood in the way of immigration enforcement. 

At the start of Trump’s first term in 2017, Duke University’s president issued a statement reaffirming the institution’s commitment to illegal students following Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The statement emphasized Duke’s dedication to protecting the rights of illegal students and outlined steps the university would take to support affected individuals. These steps included providing resources, maintaining the confidentiality of student records, meeting the full demonstrated financial need of illegal students, and advocating for long-term legislative solutions like the DREAM Act.

Similarly, San Diego State University (SDSU) has been supporting illegal students for years through its Undocumented Resource Center (URC). Established in 2020, the URC offers a wide range of services, including academic and career advising, legal assistance, DACA renewal support, mental health workshops, and community-building initiatives. The center’s mission is to create a safe space for illegal students and their families, ensuring their retention and graduation through leadership opportunities, mentoring programs, and financial aid guidance.

But why are these institutions so eager to defy federal law? 

According to Matthew Andersson, a lawyer familiar with illegal immigration, the motivations are both financial and ideological. “It pays,” Andersson explained. “[Illegal students] ‘feed’ the university student intake machinery, provide an audience for faculty course enrollment statistics, and can be ideologically indoctrinated: the illegals are merely structured voting blocks, with universities as outsource agents of political interests.” He also noted that universities are emboldened by state governments in blue states like California, New York, and Illinois, which openly defy federal immigration policies. Universities in these states are: 

creating an effective sub-government, which is an explicit political strategy openly announced by the DNC. Universities also believe that they possess, or ‘reside on’ their own legal territory, or enjoy a legal carve-out within the confines of their campus boundaries, as itself a legal (or extralegal) territoriality with its own effective constitution. The University of Chicago just held an official university forum, their president announcing their political defiance as an act of free speech and claiming that it symbolizes the ‘Chicago Principles’ which of course is opportunistic, if not cynically disingenuous.

[RELATED: Higher Education Fuels Corporate Profits at the Expense of American Workers]

Money may be a driving factor, but ideological commitments also play a significant role. 

Andersson elaborated: 

Our universities have been converted into immigration processing centers—a new form of Ellis Island, but without the legal hurdles. The status of ‘student’ has become a backdoor integration process that bypasses immigration and border control. Everyone is a ‘student’ rather than an ‘immigrant,’ and this status triggers assertions of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

As the Trump administration moves forward with immigration enforcement, it will need to monitor the actions of colleges and universities. Whatever their motivations, these institutions are clearly violating U.S. Code § 1324, which prohibits aiding and abetting illegal migrants. 

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Image: Cal State University Northridge by Cbl62 on Wikimedia Commons