University of California can hire undocumented students as California court declines to intervene
The California Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision that found UC's policy barring undocumented students from campus jobs is discriminatory.
The ruling, which stems from an October 2024 lawsuit, requires the university system to reconsider its employment restrictions.
The California Supreme Court has decided not to review a court decision that found that the University of California (UC) system discriminates against undocumented students by barring them from on-campus employment.
The case, Umaña Muñoz, et al v. Regents University of California, was filed in 2024 by a UCLA alumnus and a former university lecturer.
In August, a panel from the Court of Appeal for the First District determined that “the University’s employment policy facially discriminates based on immigration status.” The UC Board of Regents appealed that ruling in September, but the state’s highest court refused to take up the case.
Rachel Zaentz, spokesperson for the University of California’s Office of the President, spoke with Campus Reform about students who broke the law by coming to America illegally.
Zaentz told Campus Reform that these illegal immigrant students are “remarkable young people who have overcome obstacles and excelled academically.”
Zaentz boasted that “UC has been a leader in supporting its undocumented students.”
In response to the ruling, the University of California said it is still weighing its next steps. “The University of California is assessing its options following the California Supreme Court’s decision to deny review of the appellate court decision,” Zaentz told Campus Reform, noting that the Court of Appeal’s ruling in Muñoz creates legal risks for the University.
Plaintiff Iliana G. Perez, a former UCLA lecturer and previously undocumented immigrant, celebrated the outcome. “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 in a UCLA press release.
The ruling arrives amid broader debates about campus immigration policies nationwide. In August, Campus Reform reported that multiple Washington D.C. universities prohibit campus police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
American University, which declared that campus officers “will not participate in joint immigration enforcement efforts,” instructs its community to “immediately notify” administrators of ICE sightings on campus.
More recently, George Washington University’s Student Government Association passed a resolution demanding that the school ban ICE “and all other external immigration enforcement agencies” from campus.
The resolution, which passed unanimously on Oct. 27, also called for university officials to protect students “from deportation, harassment, or criminalization for activism or speech” and to maintain Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs despite federal pressure.
