The swimsuit, filed at the moment within the California Court docket of Appeals, argues that as a state company, the UC has the authorized authority to rent undocumented college students. That authorized idea builds on the argument authorized students at UCLA debuted two years in the past that mentioned the lengthy held view that no U.S. employer can rent undocumented immigrants as a consequence of a 1986 federal legislation doesn’t apply to state employers.
The swimsuit says UC’s coverage is “discriminatory” and is asking the courtroom to order UC to adjust to state legislation, which might imply granting undocumented college students the power to work. The authorized workforce behind the swimsuit is asking the courtroom to make a ruling by Nov. 30 — the due date for UC admissions purposes.
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The UC Board of Regents thought-about the advocates’ authorized idea for a number of months earlier than rejecting the thought to make it system coverage in January. A majority of regents have been persuaded by UC President Michael Drake’s arguments that hiring undocumented college students might expose campus employers to civil or legal litigation and put in danger the billions of {dollars} in federal contracts the system receives.
With out the power to work, undocumented college students wrestle to boost the cash wanted to afford the total price of their training, together with housing. Whereas undocumented college students are eligible for state grants and tuition waivers, they’re barred from accessing federal grants and loans. That pushes many undocumented college students to search out jobs beneath the desk or in unsafe circumstances, college students and advocates have mentioned.
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“So today, two brave leaders have taken up the governor’s invitation,” mentioned Ahilan Arulanantham, at a press convention Tuesday afternoon. He’s a UCLA authorized scholar, one of many architects of the authorized idea and in addition a lawyer for the petitioners within the case — a former UCLA scholar and a UCLA lecturer.
The swimsuit argues that the UC is violating state legislation on truthful employment by not hiring undocumented college students. The idea for that argument is that the UC just isn’t deciphering federal employment legislation in the way in which Arulanantham and a few of the nation’s prime authorized minds on immigration have put ahead.
The swimsuit solely applies to the UC, not the opposite public schools and universities in California.
The idea for the authorized idea is that this: As a result of the federal 1986 immigration legislation doesn’t particularly say that state employers are topic to the legislation, then they’re not sure by the legislation.
“No court has ever interpreted (the 1986 federal law) the way the regents do,” mentioned Jessica Bansal, authorized director of Organized Energy in Numbers, a employee authorized advocacy group. She’s a lawyer representing the petitioners. “To the contrary, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held that federal laws regulating hiring do not apply to state employers unless they clearly and unambiguously say they do.”
The previous scholar suing the UC, Jeffry Umaña Muñoz, mentioned on the press convention that he was “forced to have a lesser educational experience than many of my peers.” He was a scholar chief in advocating for the change in coverage final 12 months and this. Munoz graduated from UCLA this 12 months and is now a grasp’s scholar at Cal State Los Angeles.
Initially Revealed: October 2, 2024 at 10:01 a.m.
