Circumventing the Regents

There is a bill kicking around in the State Assembly's Higher Ed committee that would do what the Regents didn't do: Require UC (and CSU and the community colleges) to hire undocumented students. A proponent argues that if the state mandates UC to do it, even if the federal government sued, individuals at UC would be protected because they would just be following state law. 

Bill AB 2586

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Article 3.8 (commencing with Section 66029) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read: 3.8 Campus Employment 66029.

(a) A campus of the The University of California, California State University, or California Community Colleges shall not disqualify a student from being eligible to apply hired for an employment position at the campus due to their failure to provide proof of federal work authorization, except in either of the following cases:

(1) Where that proof is required by federal law.

(2) Where that proof is required as a condition of a grant that funds the particular employment position for which the student has applied.

(b) For purposes of this section, each campus of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges shall treat the prohibition on hiring unauthorized aliens undocumented noncitizens in subdivision (a) of Section 1324a of Title 8 of the United States Code as inapplicable because that provision of federal law does not state that it applies to apply to any branch of state government.

(c) To the extent student employment is considered a benefit for purposes of federal law, this statute shall constitute authorization to provide that benefit for purposes of subdivision (d) of Section 1621 of Title 8 of the United States Code.

(d) The University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges shall adopt regulations to implement and administer this article within 90 days of the effective date of the act adding this article. by January 6, 2025.

(e) Consistent This article shall apply to the University of California, unless it is found to be inapplicable to the University of California, then, consistent with Section 67400, this article shall apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make it applicable.

SEC. 2.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

Source: https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2586.

Note that ultimately the Assembly and the Senate would have to enact the bill and the governor would have to sign it before it became law.