❓WHAT HAPPENED: The chairman of the California State Student Association (CSSA) revealed that the California State University (CSU) system serves 10,000 illegal alien students.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: CSSA Chair Aaron Villarreal and representatives from the 23 CSU campuses.
📍WHEN & WHERE: California, announcement made earlier this week.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The CSU is proud to serve nearly 10,000 undocumented [sic] students. The highest number at any university system in the country.” – Aaron Villarreal
🎯IMPACT: Villarreal’s boast raises questions about the use of taxpayer dollars and compliance with immigration laws within the CSU system.
Two out of every 100 students in the California State University (CSU) system are illegal immigrants, according to the California State Student Association (CSSA). The revelation, made on Wednesday, comes as students and administrators are vowing to resist the Trump White House’s immigration enforcement actions and efforts to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding tuition for illegal immigrants instead of American citizens.
“The CSU is proud to serve nearly 10,000 undocumented [sic] students. The highest number at any university system in the country, ” CSSA chairman Aaron Villarreal stated. “These students are our classmates, our colleagues, and our friends. They contribute in our classrooms, lead in our student government, and give back to our communities.”
“Yet they carry the extra burden that most of us never have to think about. The constant fear that immigration enforcement could interrupt their lives, their families’ lives, and their education,” Villarreal added.
WHAT
.@csustudents has 10,000 illegal alien students‼️
Great for @ICEgov to target next!
cc @TheJusticeDept @DHSgov @RealTomHoman @Sec_Noem pic.twitter.com/mAUcJaCi3A
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 3, 2025
The CSSA serves as a representative body for the 461,612 students across the CSU system’s 23 campuses in California. According to Villarreal, the student organization is pushing university administrations to enact policies ensuring affordable tuition, housing, and expanded access to financial aid—and that illegal immigrants must be provided the same access to these resources as U.S. citizens.
California State University campuses admit students regardless of their immigration status, sparking criticism that the Golden State is prioritizing non-citizens over Americans. Notably, California’s large illegal immigrant population has already placed severe strains on other state resources.
The National Pulse reported in March that Governor Gavin Newsom (D) was forced to seek a multi-billion-dollar loan from his state’s general fund to cover Medicaid costs that have been sent soaring by the state’s expansion of healthcare coverage to illegal immigrants. The $2.8 billion general fund loan request followed on the heels of an initial $3.4 billion request to cover an earlier shortfall in state healthcare program Medi-Cal.
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