After Caifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that seeks to let illegal alliens and undocumented students to be hired on public universities, a private legal effort has been launched to force open this doorway.
Last 1 October, a UCLA alumnus and a lecturer filed a lawsuit accusing the University of California system of discriminating against students based on their immigration status. They seek a court order requiring the system to consider undocumented students for on-campus jobs.
"As an undocumented undergraduate student at the University of California, I experienced firsthand the pain and difficulty of being denied the right to on-campus employment," said petitioner and UCLA alumnus Jeffry Umaña Muñoz. "Losing these opportunities forced me to extremely precarious and dangerous living situations, always moments from housing and food insecurity."
The suit argues that federal law barring the hiring of undocumented people does not apply to public universities. A UC spokesperson said that the university system had yet to be served with the filing but will respond as appropriate when served.
The suit is being coordinated by the Opportunity4All campaign, which led the charge behind Assembly Bill 2486, or the Opportunity for All Act, this year.
When vetoing the bill in September, Newsom cited concerns that state employees could be found in violation of federal laws for hiring undocumented people.
"Given the gravity of the potential consequences of this bill, which include potential criminal and civil liability for state employees, it is critical that the courts address the legality of such a policy and the novel legal theory behind this legislation before proceeding," he said in his veto message.
UC regents share Newsom's fear that offering jobs to undocumented students may run afoul of federal law.
In January, they shelved a plan to open jobs to students who lack legal work authorization, saying UC could be subject to civil fines, criminal penalties and the potential loss of billions of dollars in federal funding. The university system receives more than US$ 12 billion in annual federal funding for research, student financial aid and healthcare.