University of California hits pause on plan to hire undocumented students

SAN FRANCISCO — University of California leaders backed away Thursday from a plan to allow people without legal immigration status to hold campus jobs after scrutinizing the legal ramifications of an effort that drew objections from the Biden administration.

The governing UC Regents emerged from a closed-door meeting and voted to put the plan on hold for at least a year.

"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," UC President Michael V. Drake said. "For that reason, it is inadvisable for the university to initiate implementation right now."

The decision leaves around 4,000 undocumented students across the ten-campus system unable to hold campus jobs, including paid fellowships and residencies that some need to graduate or pursue advanced studies.

Drake said the university would look for other ways to support the students, including increased "experiential learning" opportunities.

The students, who already attend UC as in-state residents, are among thousands of young people brought into the country as children who can no longer work legally because legal challenges have prevented new applicants to the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

The president, some regents, and other officials became increasingly skeptical in recent months that the university could hire the students without facing a lawsuit. Outside legal opinions and private calls from the Department of Homeland Security to the university raised further doubts, UC officials told POLITICO.

Activists and legal scholars argued that hiring the students wouldn’t violate federal law. They argued that a congressional ban on such employment in the 1978 Immigration Reform and Control Act did not apply to states.

In May, the regents said they’d announce a plan to hire the students by the end of November. When that self-imposed deadline passed, Drake said the university needed more time to study “numerous” legal considerations.

UC Regent John Pérez, a vocal proponent of the plan, said he had never been more saddened by a decision to hold off.

"Quite frankly, I wish I was more surprised," Pérez said.

The governing board at one point Thursday cleared their meeting room of chanting activists, a mix of students protesting Israel’s war with Hamas as calling for the hiring of undocumented students.

“Deport me, no way! Undocumented and here to stay!” some students chanted over the regents’ discussion.