California Supreme Court lets stand ruling that says UC’s ban on hiring students without legal status is discriminatory

SAN FRANCISCO The California Supreme Court has let stand a lower-court ruling that the University of California s strategy barring students without legal status in the US from campus jobs is discriminatory and must be reconsidered Officers with the university system say the decision puts them in a precarious position as they negotiate with the Trump administration after the withdrawal of federal research funds Related Articles How UC Berkeley is preparing for Turning Point s final tour stop after Charlie Kirk s death Berkeley a Look Back Military inspects site in for realizable airport They stated it Making peace with housing on Berkeley s People s Park CSU faculty sue over disclosure of personal information to Trump administration Progress on housing at Berkeley s People s Park elicits mixed feelings A lawsuit argued that UC s ban defied state law In August the First District Court of Appeals ruled that UC had not provided sufficient evidence to justify its discriminatory plan of not hiring students who are in the country without legal permission That ruling stopped short of overturning the hiring protocol but the judges ordered UC to reconsider it using proper legal criteria Instead UC took the scenario to the state s high court which last week declined to hear the challenge Rachel Zaentz a UC spokesperson stated in a comment Tuesday that the university system is assessing its options and that the court s decision not to review the matter creates serious legal risks for the University and all other state employers in California RELATED How UC Berkeley is preparing for Turning Point s final tour stop after Charlie Kirk s death Under Trump UC has contended with federal grant suspensions and a White House demand that it pay a billion fine over statements including antisemitism and the illegal use of race in admission at the Los Angeles campus A plaintiff in the affair former UC lecturer Iliana Perez urged the university system to take the latest court decision as an opportunity to revise its hiring agenda 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 stated in a announcement Monday to the Los Angeles Times But it also gives UC the clarity to ultimately unlock life-changing opportunities for the thousands of immigrant students who contribute to its campuses and to the state s business activity and workforce The lawsuit stated that without the ability to work students without legal status struggle to raise the money needed to afford the full cost of their learning including housing While those students are eligible for state grants and tuition waivers they are barred from accessing federal grants and loans That pushes multiple students to find jobs under the table or in unsafe conditions advocates have reported UC argued that hiring students without legal status could expose campus employers to civil or criminal litigation and put at exposure the billions of dollars in federal contracts the system receives