The Supreme Court today ordered the First District, Division Four, Court of Appeal to issue an order to show cause in Muñoz v. Regents of the University of California. The writ petition that will now be decided challenges a University of California policy to not hire undocumented students.
The order to show cause was essentially uncontested. The respondent Regents’ answer to the petition for review said the University would like to hire undocumented students (“Not only do undocumented students deserve equal educational employment opportunities, California deserves to benefit from the educational and professional training that paid student employment would provide these talented students”), but it fears possibly being hit with “severe” penalties for violating a federal law if it does so. The answer stated that whether the law prohibiting the employment of undocumented workers is applicable to the University “has never been directly addressed by any state or federal court” and that “a court ruling addressing this uncertainty could provide value to all interested parties.”
Division Four had summarily denied the writ petition “without prejudice to petitioners seeking relief in an appropriate forum.” Apparently the Supreme Court believes the Court of Appeal is the appropriate forum.
