Gov. Gavin Newsom
California would become the first state in the nation to employ undocumented college students without legal work permits, pending a signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom. The landmark legislation, Assembly Bill 2586, passed the state legislature in a final 41-7 assembly vote last month. As of this writing, the governor — who has not stated a position on the bill — has until the end of September to sign or veto it.
The legislation would stop the University of California, California State University and their affiliates, and California Community Colleges, from barring students from being hired for jobs due to the lack of federal work authorization — which is often the case for students who have parents who immigrated to the state.
Advocates have argued that the legislation would dramatically alter the careers and the lives of the thousands and thousands of undocumented immigrant students who are working toward, or have, an impressive, expensive postsecondary education.
Priscila Fuentes is one of those students. Fuentes, who is set to begin her senior year as a scholarship student at the University of California, Riverside, this fall, is majoring in education, society, and human development with a minor in political science.
Both of Fuentes’s parents are from Mexico, where she was born. She moved to California with her parents at age two and “can’t remember anything about” the move.
One journey
