The California Supreme Court granted review in a lawsuit suing the University of California over its policy of refusing to hire undocumented students for on-campus jobs. The lawsuit was originally filed as a petition for writ of mandamus in the California Court of Appeal, which declined to hear the case. The Supreme Court’s order transfers the case back to the Court of Appeal with instructions to hear the case on the merits. The order reflects that this lawsuit is among the rare cases that present questions of such surpassing importance that they should be heard by an appellate court in the first instance.
The petitioners—represented by Altshuler Berzon LLP, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the University of California Los Angeles, and Organized Power In Numbers—claim that the University’s policy unlawfully discriminates against undocumented students based on a mistaken interpretation of federal immigration law. Most current undocumented students enrolled in the University lack access to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provided work authorization for some undocumented young people. The University’s policy causes serious economic hardship, and often also prevents students from obtaining work experience that is necessary to completing their degree programs. The petitioners have asked the Court of Appeal to adjudicate the case on an expedited basis.