DACA Hiring?

Monday, November 07, 2022

We noted in the prior post that the UC Regents, when they meet next week, are likely to hear in public comments about collective bargaining demands of student workers. They are also likely to hear about a proposal to have UC hire DACA students. Indeed, they already have heard about it. From the UC-San Diego Guardian:

A coalition of students have launched a new campaign, Opportunity for All, alongside a letter addressed to UC President Michael V. Drake, urging him to implement a system to hire undocumented students in UC campuses, under the premise and legal review of federal laws which they insist does not apply to the UC system. The letter asserts that the 1986 law, the Immigration Reform & Control Act, that made it illegal to hire undocumented people knowingly does not mention states, thereby making it inapplicable. Legal experts undersigning the letter have interpreted this so that the law does not bind state government entities — including the UC — since it falls out of line with past Supreme Court precedents that explicitly mention states in federal law. “Because the University of California is an arm of the state, it faces no legal restriction on hiring undocumented workers. This reading of the 1986 law has now been endorsed by [twentyeight] of the most knowledgeable immigration law professors in the country,” the letter reads.

The letter has been signed by several prominent law professors from UCLA School of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law, and Stanford Law. While it’s unclear whether the UC Regents will respond to this proposal, Chair of the UC Board of Regents Richard Leib told the Los Angeles Times that he is intrigued by the legal proposal, given that it is signed by notable scholars, such as UC Berkeley’s School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. “It’s a brand-new novel idea, and of course, I would love to do it if feasible,” Leib said. “But I want to review it closely, so it doesn’t have any unintended consequences and doesn’t end up hurting our undocumented students.” ...

Full story at https://ucsdguardian.org/2022/11/06/uc-students-and-scholars-urge-uc-tohire-undocumented-students-without-work-permits/.

To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/daca%20hiring.mp3