California lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill that would order public universities to hire undocumented college students without work permits on Monday, Aug. 26. The bill now awaits California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s, D, signature, who has until the end of September to make a decision.
The legislation was introduced by Democrats in February after the University of California regents rejected a similar proposal in January. UC argued then and now that a move like this puts the college at risk of being sued citing a federal ban on hiring undocumented workers. The university is also concerned the bill would put federal funding in jeopardy.
The crux of the bill relates to a federal employment law from 1986. California Democrats argue that the law does not apply to state agencies, which includes public universities, citing an untested theory from 27 UCLA scholars, and say the state would be held liable for the law not the universities, if push came to shove from the federal government.
If Newsom does sign the bill, universities would begin hiring undocumented students starting on Jan. 6, 2025.
There are still many lingering questions, like whether UC would even have to comply with the legislation since it’s constitutionally autonomous from the Legislature.
Around 83,000 undocumented students reportedly live in California, many of whom have ineligible to work since the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was frozen in 2021.
