Undocumented students are on a hunger strike across California universities. Here’s why

Ide, 21, has known about her undocumented status since she immigrated from Jalisco, Mexico at the age of four. But it wasn’t until she tried to secure a part-time job in high school that she realized the full extent of barriers faced by the undocumented.

Ide hoped the work would help her family cover the expenses of living in East Los Angeles. Her application was denied. The hiring manager cited her lack of a social security number.

“That was really heartbreaking for me, and it was when I discovered that my life is going to look really different to the life of my peers,” said Ide, who requested The Sacramento Bee not use her last name for fear of retaliation.

Ide has faced similar challenges since enrolling as a critical race and ethnic studies major at UC Merced, where finding paid internships and on-campus work are limited. She has repeatedly ignored jobs that require work authorization and social security numbers.

But her life could be different under a plan promised last year by the University of California Board of Regents.

The historic move would challenge a 1986 federal law and allow thousands of young people without legal immigration status to hold campus-sponsored jobs — including internships, research and teaching positions — across the system’s 10 campuses.

The public university system has wrestled with the issue for months, facing pressure from activists and students who say these opportunities are vital to career trajectories.

Last May, the UC regents committed to increasing employment opportunities for undocumented students and formed a working group to examine legal options. The regents said the group would complete a proposed plan by November, but the deadline passed without a new timeline.

“The deliberations of the regental working group are ongoing and at this time it is our understanding that no final decision has been made,” UC spokesperson Ryan King wrote in an email statement on Wednesday.

King added that the UC had “devoted substantial time and resources” to reviewing how it can expand its support for undocumented students and provide equal access to educational employment experiences.

California is home to the largest population of undocumented college students, with about 83,000 people according to data from the American Communities Survey.

Dozens of students, like Ide, are now urging the UC regents to move forward with the proposal by engaging in a hunger strike.

The strike, pushed by the Opportunity For All campaign, began across five UC campuses on Tuesday. It’s expected to last until a UC Regent closed session meeting on Thursday, or longer. A potential recommendation may be given after the meeting.

“Undocumented students can’t wait any longer,” Ide said. “We need access to educational opportunities, we need access to jobs and we need to work because we need to make a living.”

Hiring immigrants without legal status

Much of the hesitancy surrounding a potential plan to help undocumented students stems from a 1986 federal law barring the hiring of immigrants without legal status.

Critics, such as conservative lawmakers and organizations, warn the UC system could be opening itself to litigation. President Joe Biden’s administration, through the Department of Homeland Security, has even quietly pushed back, according to recent Politico reporting.

In a statement to The Bee, King said the UC “regularly engages with local, state, and federal partners on numerous issues concerning public education and for maintaining compliance with existing federal law.” It declined to “characterize the nature of those discussions.”

Opportunity for All supporters say a proposal is needed particularly now because the federal government halted accepting new applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which provided work permits and protection from deportation to eligible youths who were brought to the United States as children.

Court rulings have limited DACA renewals and applications for younger generations. The policy now applies to individuals who arrived in the U.S. by June 15, 2007, which hinders roughly 44,000 students without DACA who attend California colleges.

In the UC system, about 4,000 students could be permitted to seek more opportunities if the regents approve a policy.

DACA students face limited opportunities

Undocumented students without DACA, like 22-year-old Janeth, say their education and future careers are hindered because of limited employment opportunities. She also asked The Bee to not use her last name due to her status.

Janeth, a cognitive sciences major at UC Merced, said she is one of many students working in a research lab but is the only one not being paid. The lack of pay and no other options is mentally taxing, she added.

“I don’t have the opportunity to work in other areas that I would like to,” Janeth, an organizer with Opportunity for All, said.

To increase those opportunities, the Center for Immigration Law Policy at the UCLA School of Law released a legal analysis last year that advocated for the UC to move forward with a proposal to hire students who lack legal status and work permits. The memo, signed by 29 immigration and constitutional scholars, argues there is no federal law prohibiting the UC from hiring undocumented students.

Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, is one of the authors of the analysis. He said the UC system is a state entity that is not bound by the 1986 federal law.

“If Congress had intended for the word entity to encompass states, they would have had no reason to include the specification that applies to the federal government,” Arulanantham said.

In King’s statement, he said the UC has consulted with numerous law firms and legal experts on the legal options and risks, but offered no timeline on the board’s decision.

For some students, it may be too late. Both Ide and Janeth are months away from graduating from UC Merced. Each one hopes to attend graduate school, yet worry that years of limited work and research experience will lessen their chances of acceptance.

But for now, they’re ready to keep advocating for themselves and thousands of others, even against their own UC system.

“Every day that the regents don’t follow through on their plans and on their promises is another day that undocumented students like ourselves miss out on crucial educational opportunities,” Ide said.