The College Fix

California Governor Gavin Newsom says the bill creates legal problems that must be first solved elsewhere

California universities that hoped to hire illegal immigrants were dealt a blow recently by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.

Gov. Newsom vetoed legislation that would have allowed public universities to hire illegal immigrants. Proponents of the idea argued that federal law prohibiting the hiring of illegal immigrants did not apply to state universities, as previously reported by The College Fix.

“This bill prohibits California public universities from disqualifying a student from employment due to their failure to provide proof of federal employment authorization,” Gov. Newsom wrote in his veto message.

Newsom stated he could “unfortunately” not sign Assembly Bill 2586 due to legal liability concerns.

He stated:

Given the gravity of the potential consequences of this bill, which include potential criminal and civil liability for state employees, it is critical that the courts address the legality of such a policy and the novel legal theory behind this legislation before proceeding. Seeking declaratory relief in court – an option available to the University of California – would provide such clarity.

Hiroshi Motmura and Ahilan Arulanaltham, two University of California Los Angeles legal scholars, were pushing for the change in policy.

Arulanaltham previously told The Fix there “are currently thousands of college students at state universities in California who cannot obtain the same educational employment opportunities as their peers solely due to their immigration status,” such as “work study jobs, paid internships, student leadership positions in campus organizations” and other paid opportunities.

A former Donald Trump administration official criticized the proposal in previous comments to The Fix.

“If UC officials go forward and actually knowingly hire aliens not authorized to work under federal law, the university system will face potential civil and criminal penalties, and the officials involved will face potential criminal penalties,” George Fishman told The Fix. He served as chief counsel for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and advised Republicans in Congress for decades prior to that.

“Allowing State universities to knowingly hire and employ unauthorized aliens trivializes the immigration laws and condones and encourages future violations, to the detriment of the job opportunities and future career prospects of American students and workers,” he said for a June 2023 article.

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IMAGE: Governor Newsom’s office

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