California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have allowed students without legal immigration status to work on public university campuses.

In his veto message on Sept. 22, Newsom expressed his support of expanding higher education opportunities but cautioned against the legal risk of violating a federal law that bans employers from hiring illegal immigrants.

“Given the gravity of the potential consequences of this bill, which include potential criminal and civil liability for state employees, it is critical that the courts address the legality of such a policy and the novel legal theory behind this legislation before proceeding,” the governor wrote.

The vetoed bill, AB 2586, sought to prohibit schools within the University of California (UC) system, California State University (CSU) system, and California community colleges from disqualifying students from employment because of their “failure to provide proof of federal work authorization”—except in cases in which such proof is explicitly mandated by federal law, such as for federal work-study jobs, or in which that proof is required as a condition of a grant funding a particular employment position.

Currently, international students may take on-campus jobs that are not work-study. Students with protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are granted renewable work permits that they can use to apply for these same jobs. The DACA program was created under the Obama administration to shield individuals brought illegally to the United States as children from deportation.

Since 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has halted the processing of new DACA applications following an attempt by the Trump administration to rescind the program. After nearly seven years of legal battles over the fate of DACA, the DHS still reviews renewal requests only.

According to Assemblymember David Alvarez, a San Diego Democrat who spearheaded AB 2586, some 45,000 students in California have no access to on-campus job opportunities because of their status.

“Students who are legally allowed to study at California’s public colleges and universities should also be allowed to work to pay for their own education,” Alvarez said in a statement on X, calling Newsom’s veto a “profound disappointment.”

Echoing Newsom’s concerns, the UC Board of Regents in January announced that it would not proceed with a plan to hire illegal immigrant students who lack a valid work permit, emphasizing that violating the federal law could not only threaten the university system’s grants and federal contracts but also expose those students and their families to possible criminal prosecution or deportation.

The hiring plan was proposed as a response to the “Opportunity for All” movement that first emerged in 2022 at UCLA. The movement supports a legal theory that the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act—which made it a federal crime to hire illegal immigrants–does not apply to state entities such as UC.

In a September 2022 letter backing the student-led movement, more than two dozen legal scholars said that nothing in the 1986 federal law “comes close to meeting the U.S. Supreme Court’s requirement of a clear statement that binds states.”

UC administration did not agree with that theory.

In remarks at the UC Board of Regents meeting, UC President Michael Drake said the university had spent months consulting “numerous law firms and legal experts,” only to conclude that “the proposed legal pathway” of allowing illegal immigrants to work on-campus jobs is not “viable at this time.”

Drake said UC did consider seeking declaratory relief, which involves asking a federal court for a binding opinion on the issue. Newsom in his veto message advised UC to pursue that route in order to obtain clarity before proceeding.

“Seeking declaratory relief in court—an option available to the University of California—would provide such clarity,” the governor wrote.

Newsom’s veto marks the second time this month he has rejected a bill aimed at expanding benefits to illegal immigrants.

On Sept. 6, he tossed a bill that would have made illegal immigrants who pay taxes eligible for state-funded home purchase assistance programs, such as the Dream for All program, which covers up to 20 percent of the purchase price of a home, not to exceed $150,000, for down payment or closing costs.