The California Supreme Court has let stand an appellate court’s ruling that the University of California’s ban on hiring undocumented workers is discriminatory and must be reconsidered.
The recent refusal to hear UC’s challenge to the lower court’s decision was met with joy by immigrant rights groups. But UC expressed concern.
The university system has grappled with federal grant suspensions and other painful Trump administration actions after being accused of violating federal laws, and UC spokesperson Rachel Zaentz said in a statement that the ruling “creates serious legal risks for the University and all other state employers in California.”
UC is already fighting the Trump administration’s proposed $1.2-billion fine stemming in part from federal allegations that UCLA failed to protect Jewish students’ civil rights during pro-Palestinian campus protests last year.
The hiring-policy case is the second time in recent weeks that the California Supreme Court has refused to review a lower-court decision at the request of UC lawyers. Last month, the state’s high court declined to overturn an order that UC release the document outlining the terms of the Trump administration’s settlement proposal.
UCLA argued that disclosing the information would harm ongoing negotiations with the Trump administration and open them up to unnecessary public scrutiny.
The lawsuit regarding UC’s hiring policy was filed by a former UCLA student and a lecturer in October 2024. It alleges that the UC system’s refusal to hire undocumented workers violates state law because it discriminates against students based on their immigration status.
Plaintiffs argued that, without campus work, students lacking documentation not only miss out on career-advancing research opportunities but also often struggle to afford tuition, housing and even food.
In August, a California Court of Appeal ruled that UC had not provided sufficient legal grounds to justify its “discriminatory policy.”
That ruling stopped short of overturning the hiring policy, but rather asked UC to reconsider it using proper legal criteria. Instead, UC opted to challenge the appellate court’s ruling to the state Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case last week, thus allowing the ruling to stand.
Former UC lecturer and plaintiff Iliana Perez said in a statement Monday that, as a formerly undocumented student, she had seen firsthand how employment restrictions limit opportunities for immigrant students. She is urging UC to take the Supreme Court’s decision as an opportunity to revise its hiring policy.
“The California Supreme Court’s decision not only reaffirms that discriminating against undocumented immigrants from accessing on-campus employment cannot continue to be tolerated,” Perez said, “but it also gives UC the clarity to finally unlock life-changing opportunities for the thousands of immigrant students who contribute to its campuses, and to the state’s economy and workforce.”
UC is “assessing its options” following the state Supreme Court’s decision, according to Zaentz. The university system did not indicate that it is plans to change its hiring policy.
“UC has been a leader in supporting its undocumented students — remarkable young people who have overcome obstacles and excelled academically — including hiring DACA students,” Zaentz said.
Under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, undocumented youth who were brought to the United States as children are protected from deportation and can get work permits.
UC does allow the hiring of students with DACA; however, new applicants have been shut out of the program for years. The Trump administration has proposed reopening DACA to first-time applicants, which would include many students who are now old enough to qualify, but has not done so yet.
Attorneys representing UC have argued that its hiring policy is justified because offering jobs to undocumented students could run afoul of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, a federal law that bars the hiring of people without legal status. Attorneys have said that hiring undocumented students could lead to litigation, civil fines, criminal penalties and the freezing of federal funding.
The three-judge appellate court panel, however, ruled in August that fear of federal litigation is not sufficient grounds for UC to uphold the discriminatory hiring policy.
UC has historically advocated for undocumented students to receive equal treatment at its campuses. Several UCs provide spaces aimed at developing academic and leadership success among immigrant students, such as the Dream Resource Center at UCLA.
Issues regarding undocumented students have become more politically volatile during the Trump administration. At UC, concerns have grown not just around on-campus employment but also potential immigration law enforcement on campuses and in-state tuition rates.
UC, like other public state universities, offers in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who graduate from California high schools. Rough estimates say there are 80,000 students who benefit from Assembly Bill 540, which since 2001 has allowed such immigrants to avoid the much higher nonresident rates.
But the Trump administration has sued multiple states this year over offering in-state tuition to undocumented students, leading Texas to drop its program and prompting fear that the administration could take similar action in California.
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