The University of California is at a Moment of Reckoning: Will the UC Remove Barriers to Education & Employment Opportunities for Undocumented Students?
MEDIA ADVISORY for: Wednesday, January 18, 2023
CONTACT
Hayley Burgess, Center for Immigration Law and Policy, cilppress@law.ucla.edu, 626-497-2341
Silvia Vazquez, UCLA Labor Center and Dream Resource Center, vazsil89@ucla.edu, 424-354-6069
The University of California is at a Moment of Reckoning:
Will the UC Remove Barriers to Education & Employment Opportunities for Undocumented Students?
Undocumented students, faculty, and immigrant rights and labor leaders plan press conference and rally during January UC Regents meeting at UCLA
LOS ANGELES – Undocumented students at the University of California (UC), experts at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, the UCLA Labor Center, the UCLA Dream Resource Center, and the Undocumented Student-Led Network, together with California immigrant rights and labor leaders, will hold a press conference and rally outside the January UC Regents Meeting to urge the University of California to take urgent action to ensure that all students can access full education and employment opportunities, regardless of immigration status. They will be joined by UC students from several campuses and allies who will be calling in to deliver formal public comment to the Regents during the meeting.
The University of California is at a moment of reckoning as students, teachers, and employees have confronted the institution over unjust wages and policies that restrict education and employment opportunities. While the historic graduate student worker strike was resolved last month, the UC has yet to take action to remove unjust barriers for undocumented students across UC campuses.
Meanwhile, thousands of college-aged students in California remain barred from obtaining paying jobs on campus solely due to their immigration status. Opportunity for All would ensure they can pursue educational employment opportunities at the UC.
Many other UC employees remain currently employed only because of DACA, which faces on-going threats in the courts. If DACA ends, Opportunity for All would allow the university to continue to employ people who currently hold it without interruption.
WHAT: Press conference and rally with University of California undocumented students, faculty, and immigrant rights and labor leaders to demand urgent action to ensure all students can access full education and employment opportunities, regardless of immigration status.
WHO:
- Jeffry Umaña Muñoz, UCLA student and Undocumented Student-Led Network (USN) organizer
- Karely Amaya, UCLA graduate student and USN organizer
- Kent Wong, Director of the UCLA Labor Center
- Ahilan Arulanantham, Faculty Co-Director at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP)
- Ju Hong, Director of the UCLA Dream Resource Center
- Rafael Jaime, President of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2865
- Melissa Palacios, UCLA graduate student and IDEAS at UCLA Board Member
WHEN: 10 AM PT, Wednesday, January 18, 2023
WHERE: Near front entrance of UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center, 425 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
MEDIA VISUALS: Students and advocates chanting with protest signs on University of California, Los Angeles campus.
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About UCLA CILP:
Founded in 2020, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law expands the law school’s role as a national leader in immigration law and policy, generating innovative ideas at the intersection of immigration scholarship and practice and serving as a hub for transforming those ideas into meaningful changes in immigration policy.
About the UCLA Labor Center:
The UCLA Labor Center believes that a public university belongs to the people and should advance quality education and employment for all. Every day we bring together workers, students, faculty, and policymakers to address the most critical issues facing working people today. Our research, education, and policy work lifts industry standards, creates jobs that are good for communities, and strengthens immigrant rights, especially for students and youth. The UCLA Labor Center is housed in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, a multidisciplinary research center dedicated to the study, teaching, and discussion of labor and employment issues at UCLA.
About the Undocumented Student-Led Network:
The mission of the Undocumented Student-Led Network (USN) is to create a statewide network of immigrant youth leaders to work towards advancing an immigrant reform agenda. USN commits to expand and advocate for undocumented student resources, as well as build community and create safe spaces across campuses. Ultimately, the USN aims to uplift undocumented voices and accurately portray the undocumented experience.
About the UCLA Dream Resource Center:
The UCLA Dream Resource Center (DRC), a program team of the UCLA Labor Center, trains the next generation of diverse leaders—immigrant youth and allies with lived experiences—to be at the forefront of social justice movements and achieve equity and justice for workers, families, and communities.
