California college students without legal immigration status remain barred from working on public university and community college campuses after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation Sunday that would have granted them that ability, marking the second time in three years he has rejected such a measure.
Assembly Bill 713, authored by Assemblymember Jose Luis Solache, a Lakewood Democrat, rested on an untested legal argument: that a 1986 federal law barring employers from hiring workers without legal authorization does not extend to state governments, since the decades-old statute never explicitly names states among the employers it covers.
For the second time, however, Newsom concluded that betting California’s higher education system on that interpretation would invite retaliation from Washington.
“The current federal administration has shown itself eager to sow destruction for the sake of political theater, targeting California’s public colleges and universities and terrorizing immigrant communities, including students, with reckless disregard for the consequences and an appetite for chaos,” Newsom wrote in his veto message.
He continued: “But given the seriousness of what this bill could trigger — including potential criminal and civil liability for state employees — federal courts need to weigh in on the legality of this novel legal theory before we can move forward. Seeking a declaratory judgment in federal court would provide that clarity.”
Newsom vetoed nearly identical legislation in 2024.
Solache’s bill sought to give roughly 60,000 undocumented students enrolled in California’s community colleges and public universities the ability to earn wages legally through campus jobs, rather than being forced into off-the-books work. Supporters argued that on-campus employment could be structured around students’ class schedules or tied to their academic interests, such as research positions in laboratories.
Campus jobs represent a critical financial lifeline for these students, who are ineligible for federal Pell Grants — worth up to $7,400 annually — and cannot access federal student loans, which come with stronger borrower protections than private lending options. California does allow eligible state residents to receive tuition waivers regardless of immigration status, meaning many undocumented students can at least attend public institutions without paying tuition.
“While California has a long-standing commitment to expanding access, affordability and student success in higher education, our undocumented students continue to face significant financial and structural barriers,” Solache said during a legislative hearing on the bill in June.
The University of California itself abandoned a 2024 internal review into whether it could legally hire students without legal status, citing fears that the federal government might retaliate by withholding funding or pursuing criminal charges against UC staff.
That decision effectively dissolved a coalition of student activists who had spent years pushing the UC system to voluntarily adopt the legal theory that would allow such hiring.
Following Newsom’s 2024 veto, a UC student and a former UC professor filed suit against the university system. A state appellate court ruled that the UC’s justification — that the federal government could sue the system — amounted to an abuse of discretion under state law prohibiting employment and housing discrimination. The court found that the UC’s refusal to hire students without legal status was legally unsustainable unless the university could prove federal law mandated the policy. The UC appealed, but the state Supreme Court upheld the appellate ruling. That decision, however, stopped short of validating the underlying legal theory that states can lawfully employ workers without legal immigration status.
In his veto message, Newsom made clear that he wants a federal court to settle that question before California moves forward with legislation like Solache’s.
Original source: CalMatters
