By Staff
“University of California won’t allow hiring of undocumented students.” In an article from news site EdSource, the UC president says allowing employment of students without proper immigration papers is not legally viable. Under this rule, anyone who is undocumented cannot be eligible for on campus jobs, which many people are disappointed about. A group of undocumented and legal students began urging the UC to allow the hiring of undocumented students more than a year ago.
Despite all of the voices that speak out about access to job opportunities for all, the president of UC speaks about the legal trouble University of California would get into if this was allowed. The president of the UC Michael Drake says, “We have concluded that the proposed legal pathway is not viable at this time, and in fact carries significant risk for the institution and for those we serve.” The ban drew protests from undocumented immigrants at UC, who held a hunger strike for several days in advance of the vote. A 1986 federal law prohibits employers from knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants. Drake contradicts his previous statement saying, “the university has provided strong support for undocumented students. We have established campus-based support centers, provided access to legal services, advocated for state and federal policies that bring in additional funding, and gone to the U.S. Supreme Court.” A bunch of positives done by the UC does not take away from the inhumanity of not allowing undocumented people to obtain jobs to be able to support themselves financially.
Drake admits that he knows that many people are disappointed about his current decision. A law professor who sided with the students said the decision was wrong, both legally and morally. Drake says that, “It’s not the right time,” because of how it could pose potential legal risks to the university and its employees and students.
A UCLA student and leader of the Undocumented Student-Led Network says, “our classmates can apply for any job on campus, helping them not only get by financially on a daily basis but also advancing their careers, while we remain forced to rely on incredibly limited resources. This is not the end of our fight for equality.” The UC has about 280,000 students, which includes 4,000 undocumented students. At the request of the UCLA Labor Center, the regents voted last May to consider repealing the hiring ban in six months. They had postponed any further action until January 2025. Ahilan Arulathan, Co-director of The Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA says, “The University of California has the legal right to authorize the hiring of undocumented students today.”
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