SACRAMENTO, California — California lawmakers passed first-in-the-nation legislation on Monday that would require public universities to hire undocumented students who lack work permits, sending Gov. Gavin Newsom a politically dicey proposal during an election year.
David Alvarez, a San Diego-area Democrat, introduced Assembly Bill 2586 in February in response to the University of California’s decision to reject a similar proposal . The UC cited legal risks to the system and students, but was also privately pressured by the Biden administration not to move forward with the idea during his reelection campaign in which border security was a major vulnerability.
“We will be helping students who struggle every day to stay financially afloat as they are earning their degrees, really changing their lives,” Alvarez said on the Assembly floor Monday.
The legislation would apply to the nation’s largest four-year university system, the 23-campus California State University, as well as the largest higher education system in the country, the California Community Colleges. There’s still debate about whether it would apply to the UC, which has constitutional autonomy from the Legislature.