In a key win for immigrant rights organizations, a California Court of Appeal ruled that the University of California has not provided sufficient legal grounds to justify its “discriminatory policy” barring the hiring of undocumented students from on-campus jobs.
A UCLA alumni and a lecturer filed a lawsuit in October arguing that the UC system’s hiring policy violates state law because it discriminates against students based on their immigration status.
Plaintiffs said that, without access to campus jobs, many undocumented students struggle to meet tuition costs and cover basic needs such as housing and food. These students are often forced into the underground economy and miss out on career-advancing opportunities such as research assistant positions.
Attorneys representing the UC system argued that its policy is justified because hiring undocumented students could run afoul of a federal law that bans the hiring of people without legal status and may provoke retaliation from the federal government.
A three-judge panel, however, ruled that the system’s policy violates California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and that fear of federal litigation is not sufficient grounds to uphold it.
“The University does not assert that it relied on the requirements of a federal statute or regulation in deciding not to amend its policy — only on the risks associated with adopting a policy that the federal government might consider unlawful,” states the ruling. “Accordingly, we conclude that the University abused its discretion by relying on an improper justification for continued application of its facially discriminatory policy.”
The panel stopped short of ruling that UC must overturn its policy; rather, it ordered that the university system reconsider the policy based on proper legal criteria.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs consider the ruling a victory and are calling on UC to open jobs to undocumented students.
“The court’s powerful opinion rejects the UC’s attempt to justify its policy discriminating against undocumented students. It is wrong — both morally and legally — to bar our state’s most talented students from access to crucial educational employment opportunities based on their immigration status,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy in a statement. “We call on the UC to comply with state law and treat all its students equally, regardless of immigration status.”
