Wackos Wonder If Newsom Will Let Illegals Work At Colleges

I’d love to see them give it a whirl

Will Newsom let immigrant college students without legal status work at their campuses?

Is this the year that Gov. Gavin Newsom allows students without legal status to legally work at California’s public colleges and universities?

A state bill with wide support from Democrats but opposed by Republicans seeks to do just that by adopting an untested legal theory that argues a 1980s federal law banning employment for people without legal status doesn’t apply to state agencies. But university leaders and Newsom worry that acting on the theory could put the state on another collision course with the Trump administration.

The bill easily cleared the Legislature Friday, including a yes vote from one Republican. The bill now heads to Newsom’s desk.

Assembly Bill 713 by Assemblymember José Luis Solache, a Democrat from Lakewood, is seemingly straightforward: The University of California, California State University and community colleges cannot disqualify students without legal status from campus employment. If it becomes law, it would kick in Jan. 6.

That’s cute and all, but, 8 U.S. Code § 1324a makes it illegal under federal law to knowingly hire any alien in the US without valid work authorization, and the penalties range from fines to serious federal jail time.

The systems together enrolled an estimated 60,000 students without legal status in 2023 and most were in the community colleges. Some attend private colleges and wouldn’t be covered by the bill.

Leading the charge for this right to work on campuses are students without legal status, immigration rights groups and legal scholars. Access to safe working conditions for students without legal status is a high priority because they’re ineligible for federal Pell grants — up to $7,400 annually — and federal student loans that come with more borrower protections than ones offered by private lenders. California awards eligible in-state students tuition waivers regardless of immigration status, so many students without legal status can at least attend a public institution tuition-free.

I love how you have all these people coming illegally and then thinking they can dictate how America operates

Newsom vetoed a similar bill in 2024, echoing a chief worry put forward by the University of California: Any effort to employ students without proper status would incur the wrath of the Trump administration, which could attempt to pull some or all of the $17 billion in annual federal support the system gets.

The state’s Department of Finance is recommending a no vote on Solache’s bill. The fear of federal litigation and budget cuts are the main reasons why.

If he signs it you can bet the DOJ  and other federal agencies will jump right in, and anyone who hires an illegal will be immediately arrested. They might even find a way to hold Newsom and those who voted for the bill personally responsible.