University of California looks to hire undocumented students

The University of California is working on a plan to allow undocumented students who lack work permits employment opportunities on its 10 campuses — heading into what many believe to be legally questionable waters.

The UC Board of Regents voted unanimously Thursday to form a working group who will explore a potential path forward that would enable the university to hire students without papers, the Los Angeles Times reported. The group plans to come up with a plan of action by November.

“Absolutely, it is our intention to find a way to allow employment opportunities for all our students, regardless of their immigration status,” said Regent John Pérez, according to the paper.

However, he added that time is needed to work out the potential legal risks and kinks in the plan.

“This is too important to get wrong,” Pérez said.

The Regents must factor in a likely influx of court challenges should they move forward with the plan as a Reagan-era federal law prohibits employers from hiring people who don’t have the work authorization in the US.

A group of progressive legal scholars and students at the university however said that the 1986 law called the “Immigration Reform and Control Act” doesn’t apply to states — and therefore state entities — because it doesn’t explicitly name them.

The students have been left in limbo since the Trump administration ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — which granted young adults illegally brought to the US as children temporary work authorization — in 2017 and a federal judge blocked the Biden administration from approving new recipients in 2021.

“This is a historic win for the immigrant rights movement that UC has agreed that undocumented students should have equal access, that we should have a seat at the table,” Karely Amaya, an undocumented UCLA graduate student said, according to the Times.

Amya, who was brought to the United States illegally from Mexico at age 2, said she was thrilled by the Regents’ vote. She lost out on a campus job that would have given her financial stability and research opportunities because of her status, the outlet reported.

According to the Los Angeles Times, one in five of the nation’s college students who lack legal authorization live in California and the 10 campuses that make up its state university have a student body of nearly 295,000 people.

“The University is committed to ensuring that all students, regardless of their immigration status, can pursue and attain a world-class UC education. This should include providing enriching student employment opportunities to all students,” UC President Michael V. Drake and Board of Regents Chair Rich Leib said in a joint statement.