The California Supreme Court has decided not to review a lower court ruling that concluded the University of California system discriminates against undocumented students by not allowing them to hold on-campus jobs. Therefore, the judgment of the lower court remains unchanged, Los Angeles Times reported.
The move by the California Supreme Court not to hear the case is the latest development in a lawsuit filed last year by a UCLA alum and lecturer. The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from Altshuler Berzon LLP, the UCLA Immigration Law and Policy Center and the National Day Labor Organizing Network.
Undocumented students, backed by legal theories advanced by scholars at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy, argue that state entities such as public university systems can employ undocumented individuals. But the UC Board of Trustees rejected the idea last year.
A three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal ruled in August that the University of California system’s employment policy “clearly discriminates on the basis of immigration status and that such discriminatory policy is unreasonable under applicable state law.” The ruling requires the system to reconsider its hiring policy. But the UC Board of Trustees appealed the decision two months ago.
Rachel Zaentz, a UC spokesperson, said in a statement that the California Supreme Court’s decision “poses serious legal risks for UC and all other state employers in California.”
But undocumented students and their supporters are celebrating. Plaintiff Iliana G. Perez, a former UCLA instructor, said that as a former undocumented immigrant, she has seen firsthand how employment restrictions hinder immigrant students.
“The California Supreme Court’s decision not only reaffirms that discrimination against undocumented immigrants in on-campus employment cannot continue to be tolerated, but also provides clarity to UC to ultimately provide life-changing opportunities to the thousands of immigrant students who contribute to their campuses, state economy and workforce,” Perez said in a press release from the Immigration Law & Policy Center.
