Immigrant Leaders at the University of California Sue School for Discrimination

UCLA Law, Oct. 1, 2024

"Today, a UCLA alumnus and a university lecturer, represented by attorneys from the law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP, Organized Power in Numbers, and the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, filed a lawsuit against the University of California (UC) for discriminating against undocumented students enrolled at the institution. 

The lawsuit alleges that the UC is discriminating against students based on their immigration status by barring them from accessing on-campus employment and paid educational opportunities, based on a mistaken interpretation of federal immigration law. The Petitioners are seeking a writ of mandate to require the UC to change this discriminatory policy. 

“As an undocumented undergraduate student at the University of California, I experienced firsthand the pain and difficulty of being denied the right to on-campus employment by my university,” said Jeffry Umaña Muñoz, Petitioner, recent UCLA alumnus, and campus organizer. “At the crux of this case are thousands of undocumented students and our families who simply want the freedom to study, work, and fully contribute to our universities. This case is not just about me or my story, it’s about all of the undocumented students in the UC, and in California, who continue to be unjustly discriminated against when there is no legal basis for such actions.”

This lawsuit comes as students across the UC continue to advance the Opportunity4All campaign, a growing movement of undocumented students in California who are demanding an end to hiring discrimination on their college campuses. California lawmakers passed a bill, the Opportunity for All Act (AB 2586) that would have removed hiring barriers for students, but Governor Newsom vetoed it on September 22, 2024. 

This means that thousands of college students in California continue to be unjustly barred from obtaining paying jobs on college campuses solely due to their immigration status – widening existing equity gaps and preventing many undocumented students from being able to continue to pursue higher education. 

“In my four years as a lecturer at UCLA, I have met so many talented students who have worked tirelessly to secure their place at this prestigious institution, but who are now uncertain about how they will support themselves without work authorization and the crucial educational opportunities that come with it,” said Dr. Iliana Perez, Petitioner, Executive Director of Immigrants Rising and UCLA lecturer. “I am formerly undocumented, and like me, these students have spent most of their lives in the U.S., attended public K-12 schools, and deserve the same opportunity as any other student to apply their education and skills to fully participate in the workforce. By not allowing these students to work, the University of California is missing out on the return on its investment in their education, and preventing thousands of talented Californians from contributing fully to the state’s economy and future.”

As the lawsuit filed earlier today explains, IRCA, the 1986 federal law that bars the hiring of undocumented people, does not apply to state government employers like the University of California. This means that the UC has the legal authority to allow all students, regardless of their immigration status, to access educational employment opportunities on campus. UC’s failure to do so is unlawful.

“For the last two years, the Opportunity for All Campaign has shown this University’s leadership that its student employment policies discriminate against undocumented students. These students joined with faculty to share their stories, collect university-wide data, and provide extensive legal research that points toward a straightforward solution. The Campaign truly pursued every possible avenue to keep this dispute out of the courts. But, ultimately, we could not provide this University’s leaders the one thing they were missing: a moral compass,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, Faculty Co-Director at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law and counsel for Petitioners. “So, today, after the Governor himself called on the courts to ‘test the legality’ of the Opportunity for All proposal, two brave leaders have taken up that invitation. We are confident that this lawsuit is grounded in sound legal authority, and, just as importantly, that we are on the right side of history.”

“No Court has ever interpreted IRCA the way the Regents do. But the Regents continue to refuse to change their policy. So, today we are asking the California Court of Appeals to step in and finally end the unlawful discrimination hampering the lives, education, and contributions of thousands of undocumented students at the UC,” said Jessica Bansal, Legal Director of Organized Power in Numbers and counsel for Petitioners.

Currently, most undocumented students enrolled and applying to the college have never had access to the crucial protections provided by the widely popular Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, even though they would have qualified, due to President Trump’s termination of the program in 2017 and the ongoing legal battles preventing new applicants from accessing the program.

UC students have been advocating before the UC Board of Regents since Fall 2022, and while the UC Regents voted to pursue an inclusive hiring policy in May 2023, they reversed course and postponed implementing the policy at a meeting in January 2024. 

“As a first generation college graduate, I am already navigating law school on my own, and it’s disheartening to also be kept from accessing countless opportunities on campus because my school does not allow me to work,” said Leslie Sepulveda, declarant and third year law student at UC Berkeley. “I am proud to be here today to help bring justice and equity to students like me at UC campuses throughout the state.” 

“It is immensely discouraging to know that despite how hard I work, how well I do in my education, and how badly I want this, the university continues to hold me back – solely due to my immigration status,” said Diego Castro, declarant and UCLA Master’s student. “In the meantime, my drive does not stop. I know that my contributions - and those of thousands of other students like me - are invaluable to our UC campuses and help enrich the entire UC system. I am inspired by the many students who continue to speak out for justice in our system, and I know that we are on the right side of history.”

“I have long wanted to hire undocumented students to work as research assistants and teaching assistants at the UCLA Labor Center, but have been prevented from doing so,” said Kent Wong, declarant and Project Director at the UCLA Labor Center. “For two years, we have tried to push the University of California administration to open up job opportunities for undocumented students. They have the legal right to do so. Their failure to act is harmful to our students, to our university, and is legally and morally wrong.”

Court filing: https://law.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/PDFs/Center_for_Immigration_Law_and_Policy/Umaña_Muñoz_and_Perez_v_Regents_of_Univ_of_Cal.pdf "

About UCLA CILP: 

Founded in 2020, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law expands the law school's role as a national leader in immigration law and policy, generating innovative ideas at the intersection of immigration scholarship and practice and serving as a hub for transforming those ideas into meaningful changes in immigration policy. 

Follow CILP on Twitter (@UCLA_CILP), Instagram (@UCLA_CILP), or sign up for additional news at bit.ly/CILPsubscribe. 

About Organized Power in Numbers: 

Organized Power in Numbers (OPIN) aims to improve working people's lives and promote civic engagement at the local, state, and national levels by engaging in organizing, advocacy, and strategic litigation to advance workers’ rights and racial and economic justice. OPIN is a project of Working Families Organization.

About Altshuler Berzon LLP:

Altshuler Berzon LLP is a San Francisco law firm dedicated to providing the highest quality representation in the service of economic justice and the public interest. The firm specializes in labor and employment, constitutional, environmental, civil rights, class action, campaign and election, and impact litigation, and it represents clients including labor unions, workers, consumers, environmental groups, other public interest organizations, and public entities.