UC Board Of Regents Votes 9-6 To Halt Undocumented Immigrant Student Hiring Plan

The University of California Board of Regents voted 9-6 on Thursday to halt a plan that would have allowed students without legal status in the United States to apply for jobs on campus, moving the final vote on the matter until at least 2025.

Since October 2022, undocumented student leaders in the University of California (UC) system have pushed forward an “opportunity for all” campaign aimed at expanding opportunities and protections for illegal immigrant students. In May of last year, they scored their first major victory, when the UC Board of Regents announced that they were in favor of removing hiring restrictions for undocumented students.

However, that decision soon gained the ire of legal experts and the federal government who said that allowing the hiring of illegal alien students on campus would violate the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. With many regents signaling they would not vote for it, the debate over the situation on campus grew. Votes over the matter were delayed several times last year as both support and opposition threats grew. With a vote over allowing the students to have campus jobs finally set for a January 25th vote in November, students quickly tried to convince the board otherwise.

Beginning on January 23rd, students across all 10 UC campuses began hunger strikes, hoping to dissuade the 15 regents to approve the plan. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students also gave heartfelt pleas to the regents during hearings, urging them to allow the 4,000 illegal immigrant students to be allowed to work on campus. However, opponents also received a strong ally in the decision: the Biden Administration. Department of Homeland Security officials specifically warned UC that they could be facing administrative action or a lawsuit should they continue their efforts.

Faced with federal pressure, as well as not being able to legally implement such a hiring program, the Board of Regents voted 9-6 on Thursday to not allow those students to have jobs on campus this year, moving the final vote to at least 2025.

“We concluded that the proposed legal pathway is not viable at this time, and in fact carries significant risks for the institution and for those we serve,” said UC President Michael V. Drake on Thursday. “For that reason, it is inadvisable for the university to initiate implementation right now.”

Board rejects undocumented student on campus work plan

The 4,000 illegal students expressed outrage on Thursday and Friday, calling the regents “cowards” for their vote. Others noted that many were depending on jobs on campus to help give them a leg up and the decision would effectively make them worry about having enough money to make ends meet rather than school.

“It’s unfair that California gave students this hope and help them get into the UCs, but then they don’t help them actually bring that dream together by providing them with the resources that they need to get a job that’s equivalent to the education,” said UC Merced Legal Program Director Merced Barrera. “I’m just disappointed that this is a topic overall.”

However, legal experts told the Globe that the law is extremely clear on this, and that if the Board approved it, the federal government could have made things even worse.

“The Board knew that they would just be making these students lives worse if they passed this,” said Vera Palmer, a legal aide in California that helps students with legal trouble to get into colleges and universities, to the Globe on Friday. “And the reason why students and supporters were so angry was because this was the year they needed to pass it. Next year, Trump could be back in the White House, and he almost got rid of DACA. Biden hesitated to push the legal button this. Trump will not.”

“There will be a vote next year, but it will come with everyone knowing that he might be in the office. If Biden is back, maybe they vote no on this again. But Trump? No, they won’t risk it.”

“And the thing is, they could have worked something out. Illegal students getting work on campuses isn’t unheard of. But what the students at UC were pushing were for pretty much an on-campus job, and that, as we know, is very much illegal. They should have pushed for a limited number of jobs in specialized areas. You know, get the excuse that no one else can do them. Translation services, for one, is something illegal students could possibly get. But no. They got greedy, wanted everyone at once, and the federal government had to step in and threaten legal action. They didn’t play this one smartly and slowly build up from needed jobs.”

The Board is expected to vote on this matter again next year.